we can go live okay we are live thank you
Thank you.
Okay, Chair, we have 28 attendees. You can start when you're ready.
Thank you.
Pardon me. Good morning, everyone. My name is Frankie Chico. I'm the Chair of the Zoning Board
of adjustment. I'll be participating in today's hearing along with our Vice Chair Ms. Carol
Tenere, Board Secretary Confessor Plaza and Board Members Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell.
Board Administrator Lakeisha Dandy and our Board Attorney Ms. Sharon Saleta are also in attendance.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings,
I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First, we will be administering
oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony. Second, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded, and that by participating you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded, and that the recording will be made available to the public on the web or otherwise.
Third, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by
hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat that. For anyone participating
by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six
to unmute yourself. Pardon me. Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548
and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
I'll repeat.
To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548
and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
And I would like to remind everyone,
please do not attempt to testify in the chat.
Any comments or questions should be directed to Ms. Lakeisha Dandy,
our board administrator.
Having said that, I will begin the process of reading off cases on the add -on list for 930 this morning.
MI 2020 -003 -389 -446 -52 North 2nd Street.
This case was held on September the 1st.
Ms. Denary, I believe you have a statement. You read the transcript and reviewed the, excuse me, my allergies are working on today.
I don't think I vote on this case on 12th Street.
All right. So, MI 2020 -003389, 446 -52 North 12th Street. My vote is yes with the proviso. A maximum of five units. A maximum of five units.
Confessor Plaza, yes with proviso. James Snell, yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, yes with proviso.
so thank you carol you'll handle number two i will not be voting on this one calendar number
one nine seven two nine one three west dakota street my vote is no confessor plaza my vote is
no james snell my vote is now thomas holloman my vote is no thank you m number three on our list
MI -2021, that's 001760, 2316 North 10th Street.
My vote is yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
I reviewed the record and I viewed the video.
Professor Plaza, my vote is still yes.
Professor Plaza, my vote is still yes.
James Snell, I viewed the video, and my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
Number four on our list, MI 2021 -002619, 1300 Bigler Street.
My vote is yes, with the proviso, maximum two residential units, no commercial space.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with Proviso.
I don't vote on this.
Tom does.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Now we'll go to our regular list at 930.
Number two on our list, MI 2021 -001897.
1313 South 23rd Street is continued number three on our list MI 2021 -001578 1420 Point Breeze Avenue is continued number seven on our list MI 2021 -001959 2349 North 20th Street
is continued. And number 12 on the 930 list, MI 2021 -000457. 7226 Oakley Street is withdrawn.
If anyone objects to the withdrawal or the continuances that have been requested,
please raise your hand at this time. Only if you object to the continuance or the withdrawal
that have just been read into the record.
No hands, Chair.
Thank you.
I will now ask if anyone would like to request a continuance or withdrawal
for the 930 list, please raise your hand.
Only if you would like to ask for a continuance or withdrawal on the 930 list,
please raise your hand at this time.
no hands chair no hands i'm sorry we have a norman
norman you can unmute yourself mr wooten yes good morning good morning please spell your full name
and i'll swear you in uh norman n -o -r -m -a -n wooten w -o -o -t -e -n do you swear for him to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do thank you sir please proceed
Okay, I'm here about the property at 1221 West Lehigh, 1223 West Lehigh.
I didn't hear it.
Say that again?
I didn't hear you announce anything about 1221.
We didn't get to that case yet.
We're asking now if anyone is requesting a continuous.
We'll get to that shortly.
And my humblest apologies.
Thank you.
anyone requesting a continuance or withdrawal for the 930 list please raise your hand
no more hands chair okay with that we will go to case number one
mi 2021 -001 -896 1221 west lehigh avenue mr clinton i believe is the attorney of record
please identify yourself sir and i'll swear you in
and he's coming in now as a panelist
morning mr chairman henry clinton for the applicant concerning 1221 -1223
west lehigh avenue 1313 south 33rd street queen memorial building foot off upa 19146
you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do thank you mr plaza has some questions for you
Mr. Clinton, do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral, photos, and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO? And do you have a letter?
Yes, all to the above, but the RCO has not sent a letter, and I believe Mr. Wooten, who just
called in, is a representative of the RCO, and he will weigh in on that, I believe.
Okay, great. You may proceed.
I'm going to share my screen, if I may.
can you see that is that large enough we don't see anything yet just you just me that's not good
how about now no still looking at you boss
you might have to hit your uh share screen button again yeah i think you're right all right let me go
back in we can see on documents now about you have a screen if you can enlarge that a little
bit that would be helpful the only thing is this is for my later later presentation let me get out
this and put the lehigh avenue one up so i think i have to go back into zoom
but yeah that was for h h yeah so my my mistake there
i want to stop share i'll start from the beginning
all right can i just let the next person go and then i'll fix this because i had the the uh i'm
going to present later on and that that's h street that's the one that's coming up so let me just
regroup and i'll i'll come back we'll go to case number four and mr wooten if you're listening just
hang in there uh we'll be back to your case thank you mr chairman thank you we'll go to case number
four mi 2021 -000463 1553 north marston m -a -r -s -t -o -n street there's a letter of non -opposition
from the brewery town sharswood rco mr anastasio is the attorney of record
Mr. Anastasio, can you hear us?
He's coming in now as a panelist.
Good morning, Madam Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Anastasio. Please spell your full name. I'll swear you in.
Vern Anastasio, A -N -A -S -T -A -S -I -O, 1315 Walnut, Suite 1006, Philadelphia, 19107.
Mr. Chairman, I have three cases this morning and my volume was off when you called the case.
Which address is this again?
at 1553 North Marston. Thank you. You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you. Mrs. Tenere has some questions for you. Yep. You agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit
packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, or referral, photos, and or plans of the
property five days in advance of this hearing? And have you met with your RCO? And do you have
a letter? Yes, I do. Okay, thank you. You may proceed. Thank you. I'm asking the administrator
if they could also promote Ian Toner, who is the architect on the project.
And while they do that, I want to share with you the letter from the RCO dated September 9th.
It's a letter of non -opposition to the proposed development at 1553 Marston Street.
We initially asked for an eight -family dwelling, and we had some refusals with respect to open air, a minimum rear yard depth, and maximum height.
The highest point was just under 54 feet.
After a couple different meetings with the RCO, we've actually brought our project down.
show you the new plans to 40
the new plans, to 40 feet in height, because they wanted our height to be sort of within
the fabric of the rest of the community.
We do have an increase in number of units, but they're larger and they're a better product,
which is exactly what the RCO was looking for.
The units range anywhere from the smallest being 465 feet or so, and then the larger
ones being in excess of 700 square feet.
Property is currently zoned RSA 5, however, this has never been a single family residence
as the plans can demonstrate.
Here's some photos of the interior.
Here's the block, which is in transition,
I think is a good description of the block as it stands.
As you can see, there's lots of vacancies in and around it.
And this will be a quality product that allows for folks to use it for residential purposes again, hopefully breathe new life into the into the block.
With that, here's our flyer that was sent.
And we also have, as I said, the RCO support letter, non -opposition letter.
The parcel itself is just too large of a parcel to be a single -family dwelling.
There's never been a single -family home on that block.
Multifamily household living is more conducive to that block as it currently sits, and the
community organization agrees.
And with that, I'd like to have Mr. Toner raise his hand so he could speak perhaps a
little bit more about the actual units themselves. Mr. Toner, please spell your full name and I'll
swear you in. Ian Toner, I -A -N -T -O -N -E -R, from Toner Architects, 1901 South 9th, room 425,
Philadelphia, 19148. Where are we going to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Please proceed.
So our original, the existing building covers just about 100 % of the lot, so we are proposing
to reduce the size of the building just slightly in the rear to be able to have windows into
these units.
There's an alley that runs behind the building and then down the side.
You can see those property lines shown here.
So there will be, you know, egress from the rear units and also the ability to have a lot of windows back there.
Have studios. We have one bedroom, two bedrooms in here, and that accounts for the varying size.
It's 10 total units. We lowered the building, but we had a larger rear yard in the previous version.
So when we lowered it, we are now doing a smaller rear yard.
And because of that efficiency of being on fewer floors, that's how we were able to get from originally eight units to now 10 units.
We do have trash storage in the building right by the front door.
No roof decks anymore, so we won't be a nuisance to the neighbors.
And I think that, I mean, that sums up generally what we're doing.
We're going to restore the facade on the front.
and just add one story to the existing structure we've uh by the way i uh thank you ian uh i'd
like to call adam mckay who's the owner you could raise his hand mr adam you can unmute yourself
good morning everyone good morning sir please spell your full name and i'll swear you in
Sure. Full name is Adam McKay, spelled A -D -A -M. Last name spelled A -C -C -A -Y. Address 2130 East Firth Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19125.
We're a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you, Mr. Anastasio.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Adam, did you hear my presentation and Ian's presentation to the board this morning?
And is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
yes all right and would you adopt it as your own testimony yes thank you mr chairman that's all we
have thank you willing for questions any questions from the board no mr chairman
Okay, anyone else would like to testify in this case?
okay uh anyone else would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
If so, please raise your hand.
There are no hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you. Planning Commission?
Good morning. David Fecto, F -E -C -T -E -A -U, with the City Planning Commission.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you, sir. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, in 2014, the zoning map was amended from residential multifamily to residential single family at this location in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan and with support from the community.
At 2 ,750 square feet, there is nothing unique about this lot that will prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The applicant could subdivide this property into two lots and build one single family home on each without variances.
Accordingly, we recommend that the board deny the requested variances.
Thank you.
MI 2021, that's 000463, 1553 North Marston Street.
My vote is yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Professor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Thank you all.
are we ready to go back
to Mr. Clinton
Mr. Clinton are you ready
yes I'm ready
we're going back to case number one
MI 2021
001896
Westley High Avenue you've been sworn in
and you've addressed the
questions of Ms. Tenere
so please proceed
thank you Mr. Chairman
It just says on my screen that I can't start my video because the host has stopped me.
If I could just be...
There's noise, background noise.
Does someone have a radio on or a television?
Please mute it. Thank you.
Mr. Clinton, you're still not able to go for it.
I think that's been rectified.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your patience. I appreciate it.
all right so can everyone see this screen well we still see you henry all right let me get all
right i'm getting i'm getting there now we now oh it's still h street but
okay you got it okay all right thank you very much so you still have some background stuff
on there uh the 8th street whatever maybe you can clean that up clear that out of there and
how about now is that better it's good yeah if you can enlarge that that would be helpful okay
we're not getting your full screen now okay now we have it thank you mr chairman members of the
word for your patients. I really do appreciate that. So this is 1221 Wesley High Avenue.
This request is for a pure subdivision. We're not proposing any housing or any structures on
the project. This is the table of contents or exhibits AA through A10, which I'll ask to be
admitted into evidence at the close of the procedure. My appearance statement.
this is the refusal this is an rm1 zone and we basically are taking two lots which front on
lehigh avenue and i'll show you in the aerial photographs a front on lehigh avenue and silver
street and we are converting those two lots into four and we are not proposing any structures at
this time 12th and cambry advisory board is the rco and that's mr wooten who is on the call
so he can fill you in on their position.
This is an aerial photograph of the lot.
This is Lehigh Avenue.
Lehigh Avenue, the homes on Lehigh Avenue are very, very deep.
Back in the day, I think this used to be called Doctor's Road
because there were a number of physicians on the first floor
and multifamily above.
At the corner is Cookman United Methodist Church.
And this is the lot.
It's very deep.
It runs from Lehigh to Silver.
This is just another view of the lot to show you from fronting on Lehigh Avenue.
And this is the lot as you look at it from Silver Street.
so what's what's important here is that what our intention is is to subdivide the lot
What's important here is that what our intention is, is to subdivide the lot, basically in half, and then eventually have a home on silver here and here, and two on Lehigh.
When we present it to the community, even though I'm asking the board or we're asking the board for a strict subdivision plan, out of courtesy to the neighbors, my client also produced building plans of what he intended to build if the subdivision was approved.
And basically the whole discussion during the meeting, and I think Mr.
Wooten can confirm it, was concerning what we intended to build, not necessarily the subdivision.
That will come at a later time.
And if this lot is subdivided, then basically the lots on this side of Silver Street and this side of Silver Street will basically be very close in depth so that you have uniformity on both sides.
Right now, the back end of Lehigh Avenue, as you can see, there are no homes at all.
It's basically the driveways for the larger homes on Lehigh Avenue, plus you have Cookman Church at the end of the block.
This is a view looking west on Silver Street.
Again, just trying to give the board a flavor for what's going on.
This is the subdivision plan.
this is what is before the board today basically taking the entire lot on lehigh avenue and then
on the right hand side converting that into a lot on lehigh avenue two lots on lehigh avenue
a and b and then two lots on silver street
we have submitted a revised plan only because when the surveyor looked at the project and
realized that he had landlocked the lots he now has an easement going from the rear of silver
the lots on silver street onto silver street so if the board looks kindly upon this application
I would ask that this plan gets stamped and the provisor sheet gets stamped. So again, in conclusion, these lots will be cut in half. The lots on Silver Street will mimic the size just about of the lots on the other side of Silver Street.
And we did present the proposed buildings, but the community didn't particularly like the buildings on Silver Street, although they did like them on Lehigh, but that's really not before the board today.
So, with that, I would rest and I'll ask my client to adopt if there's any questions from the board.
I'm also entertaining those.
Your client is?
My client is Mrs. Castro, who is on the, excuse me, my client is Vladimir Stein, S -H -T -E -I -N, who is on the call, I believe.
Please raise your hand.
and they're available they just have to unmute themselves
yes hi please spell your first and last name first name vladimir v -l -a -d -i -m -i -r
last name stein s -h -t -e -y -n you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but
the truth i do thank you please proceed mr clinton mr stain uh you were on the call today
uh during my presentation correct yes and you heard my testimony yes and if you had the
opportunity to testify would you adopt your testimony my testimony as your own and as true
and correct yes thank you mr stein thank you any questions from the board no mr chairman no
If anyone else would like to testify in this case, please raise your hand.
If you're out there, Mr. Wooten, you've already been sworn in.
You're under oath.
Is Mr. Wooten still out there?
Good morning.
Good morning again, Mr. Wooten.
You're still under oath, so please begin your testimony.
Okay, thank you.
Top of the morning to you, too.
Okay. The reason a letter wasn't sent then is because at the community meeting, Mr. Clinton didn't have his architect with him. And the community didn't want an entrance to the back part.
we're not against progress we just want everything to be familiar with the neighborhood
so on the silver street side it's nothing but um garages and driveways so the neighborhood doesn't
So the neighborhood doesn't want an entrance to the back properties on the Silver Street side.
want and
What we were proposing to him was could he make a walkway or say two walkways on each side of the front buildings or either a walkway in the middle of the two front buildings to come to the two back buildings
instead of putting the entrance on Silver Street,
make the entrances facing the back of the buildings
on Lehigh Avenue.
And he didn't have his architect with him
to see if that was feasible.
And he said that he was going to get back with me
with his architect, but he never did that.
And so since he never got with that,
they voted no.
because his architect never
Mr. Wooten, excuse the interruption
are you suggesting that another meeting might be helpful?
Sure. Mr. Clinton?
Always allowing to meet with the community again
Mr. Chairman. Mr. Wooten, if it's okay with you
we'll have a resumption hearing. Mr. Wooten
when does your community next meet?
uh uh so the third let's see i'll tell you i'll give you exactly
october 21st october 21st is a thursday that's correct
um lakisha if we do a resumption hearing what would be the closest we could get to october
after October 21st.
Chair, can you just give me a few seconds
just to look at that data?
Yeah, sure, absolutely, absolutely.
Excuse me, Chair, this is Sharon.
Would the community representative,
the RCO representative be willing to agree
that the resumption hearing
shall be solely for the purpose
of reading the RCO letter into the record?
And Mr. Clinton, if you would also agree to that.
Yes, I would agree to that.
In that case, I can talk with Ms. Sunkett, but I believe in that case where it is only for the reading of the record, the timing is such that it can be scheduled for the next ZBA scheduled hearing after the RCO meeting.
or unless you think you will need additional time
to prepare the letter, Mr. Wooten.
No, not after that, no.
Okay, thank you.
Again, Sharon, what is it you're proposing we do?
That the resumption hearing will be limited
to reading the RCO letter into the record,
that there will be no additional testimony.
But we need a specific date, don't we?
November 3rd.
yep that would be the wednesday right after the um rco thank you mr clinton does that work for
you yes mr chairman mr wooten yes yes okay thank you all uh mi 2021 that's zero zero one eight nine
six one two two one west allegheny this hearing will be resumed on november the third at what
time uh lakisha 9 30 at 9 30 a .m at which time the board will consider any feedback related to
the rco's letter is that correct sharing that's correct no testimony the record is otherwise
closed thank you thank you thank you gentlemen thank you mr chair for your accommodation
mr chair before you move on to the next case there is an issue with um mr anastasio's case
number four which was previously called could you call that again please my 2021 -000 -463 -1553
north marston street and mr anastasio could be promoted after the ruling mr anastasio contacted
me to ask that the proviso be added approving revised plans i have questions about those plans
If Mr. Anastasio is present, I'm afraid that the changes that are being proposed are not changes that can be done by revised plans.
Anastasio, you're still on their oath, Sharon.
Mr. Anastasio, had you sent these in prior to this morning?
prior to this morning? No, Ms. Saleta. These were plans that were redesigned as a result of
No, Ms. Saleta, these were.
negotiation with the RCO. I'm sorry, but you are increasing the unit count from 8 to 10 units and
decreasing the open area from 21 .3 % to 6 .2%. And I understand that that's an increase over the
existing open area, but these are changes that have to be reviewed by L &I. The board can't simply
do them by revised plans. Understood. So we'll just go through the administrative review process
then. I doubt that they will do it by an administrative review because it doesn't meet
the criteria for administrative review. You are not decreasing the degree of the variances or
just the height. Yes. Well, the height, right. So I would suggest that the board, I'm not sure.
Yes, I need to contact L &I to determine how this can be approved.
If we could just vacate the vote that was taken this morning and continue this for a resumption hearing to a date to be determined.
Okay, so noted.
That'll be fine. Thank you.
All right, so what was just put on the record by Ms. Saleta is so noted.
So MI 2021 -000463, 1553 North Marston Street.
This hearing will be resumed.
Sharon, we don't have a date.
We won't have a date yet, would we?
No, we're going to need to determine what action needs to be taken.
So resume to a date to be determined.
And it will require reposting.
Yeah, resumption hearing to be a date to be determined.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right.
At number five on our list, MI 2021 -001899, 1644 North 26th Street.
Michael McElhenney is the attorney of record.
Brewery Town, Sharmswood, RCO supports this application.
Vern, you're still on.
Vern, you might want to mute yourself.
Sorry.
Mr. McElhenney available.
Anyone here from 1644?
Good morning, sir. This is Jason Hand. I'm covering briefly for Ms. Dandy.
Mr. McElhenney has been promoted to panelist.
Mr. McElhenney, please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Michael McElhenney, it's M -I -C -H -A -E -L, McElhenney, M -C, capital I -L -H -I -N -N -E -Y.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Our vice chair, Ms. Carol Tenere, has questions for you.
Sir, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
yes we do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance a copy
of the refusal or referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes we do to all those questions okay and
i might mention that brewery town sharswood rco supports this so you may continue thank you may
I share my screen? Sure. Mr. Chairman, is just before I start, is that screen view large enough
invisible? Maybe just a little bit larger. That's good. Yes. As mentioned, I am here on behalf of
the equitable owner, Matthew Lynch, for the property 1644 North 26th Street. We did, we meet
with the Brewery Town Sharsward organization, and there's a letter of support. The vote was pretty
overwhelming, 13 in favor, two opposed, and three abstaining. The property, we did have an issue,
there was additional exhibits that I provided to the board in advance of the hearing in terms of
ownership and tax clearance. We had an issue with obtaining a formal tax clearance, but that has
been obtained and provided to the board and that's at exhibit 16 of the exhibit packet.
The proposal that we're seeking is for a three -family dwelling at the subject property.
The only refusal at issue is the use refusal and the reason for that use refusal is the property
is zoned RSA 5. It is immediately abutting the RM1 multi -family property.
It is immediately abutting the RM1 multifamily properties and CMX2 commercial mixed -use properties at Cecil B. Moore Avenue on the 2600 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue.
The property itself is this two -story structure.
As you can see, the property currently has two mailboxes that's used as a two -family dwelling currently.
looking at exhibit four the second photograph just for context
Mr. McElhenney there's a background someone is speaking in the background I'm not sure if that's
Mr. Wooten or whoever would you please mute yourself please proceed Mr. McElhenney
as I was saying just for context the the subject property is the small red brick building to the
north is the large three -story building that you can see that is the men and women's for health
a human excellence building that is a mental health alcohol drug rehab treatment facility
to the south of the subject property are the residential buildings uh the property at 1642
and 1640 were last permitted for two units the property at 1638 is this three -story structure
that is currently used as a and approved for a triplex farther to the south on the same side of
the street as the subject property is a large 45 footish um church building the open door baptist
church farther down are other properties undergoing rehabilitation and in need of rehabilitation
and i'm going to turn to page five of exhibit four just for context opposite to the east of
the subject property is a large four -story multifamily building for seven approved for
seven dwelling units and to the south of that are other multi or single family buildings and then
an abandoned building at the corner of nicola street to the south of nicola street is a corner
property that is currently approved for and used for um to a two -family dwelling and those zoning
archives are attached as exhibit eight to the documents presented to the board so just for a
quick aerial view at exhibit five the subject property we're requesting for three -family use
we're opposite a large three -story building that our proposal will be comparable to in terms of
height we are fully dimensionally compliant we have the mental health building next door to us
other multi -family buildings to the south and the large church building to the south of that
the characteristics of this block are not single family in use it is more mixed use
and multi -family and requiring this property to be used as a single family
would be a hardship in this instance. I'd like to pull up Exhibit 7 to show a quick rendering
of what the proposed building will look like. So on your screen is a rendering of the subject
property. This exact building has been built by my client around the corner on the 2600 block of
Cecil B. Moore Ave. As you can see, the proposal is to use traditional red brick high quality
materials on the property, along with some metal accents panels. The RCO was the style and concept
of using the red brick was very well received by the community, which is one of the reasons we,
I believe we got a letter of support. I would like to note that the property is
separated from the properties on Cecil B. Moore Ave. with a three foot alleyway
that provides access to 26th Street for the subject property and also the properties on
Cecil B. Moore Avenue. If I can go back to the zoning plan, the property itself is a very large
parcel for a single family zone lot. It is 18 by 87 and a half feet. That's 1575 square feet.
the proposed structure that we're that we're proposing even after construct it would allow
for a backyard of 18 feet wide by 28 feet deep which is a quite sizable backyard one of the
characteristics that the architect and my client put into the project is to pull the project at
the rear off the property line to allow for more light and air and also more outdoor space
more open area and a spot for things that this property will require such as trash storage
that can be secured outside of the units that was a concern of the community that we wanted to
address and they were thankful that we have space to have secure trash storage so it's not just in
the units and not getting left out in the street prematurely as i mentioned there is a three -foot
alley to the next abutting our property to the north which allows for the any unit owners of
the subject property to easily take their trash out from the stored backyard into the
from the stored backyard into the front when necessary and appropriate.
front when necessary and appropriate.
And to go through the floor plans of what we're proposing, as I mentioned, we are requesting
three residential dwelling units. The basement and first floor would be consisting of unit one,
the second floor of the property would be unit two, and the third floor, the third unit would be
unit third floor plus the mezzanine level. As you can see, the first floor unit or the unit one
is a three -bedroom, three -bath unit. It is sizable. We're looking at 1 ,621 square feet for
that unit. All units are accessed by the front door fronting on North 26th Street. The first
floor unit is accessed right off the front door. The other units are accessed through a central
stair tower the first floor unit we have full bedrooms uh full dining room kitchen and living
room space the first floor unit also has direct access to the rear yard and has use of the
basement space which has full two bed two bedrooms two baths large storage area and full washer dryer
mechanical space in the basement the second floor unit two bed is a two bedroom two bath unit that
comes out at approximately 817 square feet. Again, it's full living room, full kitchen,
full bath, quality living space. The third floor unit was a discussion point at the community
meeting. It is currently laid out as a three -bedroom, three -bath unit. However, as I mentioned,
my client just completed the same project around the corner, and it turns out that the community
was supportive of making the third floor really a two -bedroom unit with the third floor or the
fourth floor, the mezzanine level, I should say more of a den or office space, um, rather than
an actual bedroom space. And that's why it doesn't have a bed laid out in the, uh, the mezzanine
level. There is a roof deck that's accessed by the third floor unit only, um, that would be off
that den. So in summary, Mr. Chairman, the property, the proposal for this project is
the project is a dimensionally compliant building on a very oversized lot that leaves plenty of open
area, rear yard space. And given the characteristics of this property abutting the mental health
services facility and the other multi -family buildings and church building on this block
and with the community support we would request that the board see favorably on this request for
a three -family dwelling at this location and grant the requested variance. Do you have a client to
adopt your testimony? Yes Mr. Chairman. Matthew Lynch should be in the audience and I request
that he be promoted to panelists.
I'm here.
Mr. Lynch, please spell your full name for the record.
Matthew Lynch, M -A -T -T -H -E -W -L -Y -N -C -H.
Where to affirm the tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you, Mr. McElhenney.
Mr. Lynch, have you heard and viewed my presentation
to the board this morning?
yes I have were my statements true and accurate to the best your belief yes they are and would
you adopt those statements that I made to the board as your own yes I will no further questions
Mr. Chairman thank you any questions from the board no Mr. Chairman no no no thank you anyone
else would like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand no hands at this time
chair thank you planning commission good morning david vecto city planning commission mr chairman
members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change in the existing residential
single -family zoning this location this is a 1669 square foot lot there is nothing unique about this
property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code 1638 1640 and
1642 north 26th street appear to have permits for two or three unit buildings the majority of the
rest of the homes on the block are single family several of which were built within the last three
years we recommend that the board deny the requested variance excuse me one minute david
you said that there are three other houses that have have application for multi uh for uh yeah um
So the ones that Mr. McElhenney called out, we found the same information, 1638, 1640, and 1642.
And then there are at least a couple of others, including...
And then there are at least a couple of others, including, I want to say, 1644, no, I'm sorry, 1621 and 1623 that got approval in 2019 for single families.
Maybe I misunderstood you. I thought you said there were others that had applications for multifamily. Was that incorrect?
correct? That's incorrect. I think I meant to say 1621 and 1623 have applications that were
approved for singles. I believe Mr. Fecto referenced the multifamily for the abutting
properties at 1642, 44, and 38. Right. That's what I was saying. There have been a mix of
approvals recently. Okay. All right. And then we have the mental health facility, which obviously
is multi -family okay right um question from the board i think i asked uh mi 2021 -001899
1644 north 26th street my vote is yes harold tenary my vote is yes excuse me confessor plaza
my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes thomas halliman my vote is yes thank you number six on
our list mi 2021 -0019661926 cambridge street mr anastasio is an attorney of record
mr anastasio please identify yourself you're still under oath good morning mr chairman
bernard anastasio a -n -a -s -t -a -s -i -o 1315 walnut street philadelphia pa 19107
mary has questions for you sir do you also agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy i do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance
refusal referral photos under plans the property five days in advance of this hearing have you met
with the rco and do you have a letter yes to all of that okay thank you one moment you do have a
letter? I have a meeting summary. All right, please proceed. Yep. Mr. Chairman, members of
the board, this is 1926 Cambridge Street. We met with the RCO. Overwhelming support for our
request for the variance. And let me walk you through what it is. It's pretty straightforward.
The application is for one accessory parking space in the rear of a single family home.
My client purchased the property in question recently and believing that there were in fact two off street parking spots.
Here's the plan.
Let me show you the photos.
um yep this is his side and when he purchased the property that he uh it was marketed and sold to
him for two car parking just like his immediate neighbor next door it turns out although just
about everybody in that rear lot that rear street parks their cars um this particular
parcel is not zoned for it. And let me show you the Zillow that says a beautifully appointed
house in Francisville offering a rare two -car parking. Turns out that was not properly zoned.
It was marketed and sold to my client incorrectly. We met with the community organization.
they gave us the um excuse me by the way here's a here's a permit for the installation of a
residential electric car charging equipment for that spot so i think everyone sort of
believed this to be a legalized off -street parking spot and as a result
um we respectfully request the variance excuse me mr anastasia this is sharon saletta i just
went through your exhibit packet again i don't see a copy of the um okay it's not sure if that
was yeah that must have been added after the yeah they were late on getting that to us
okay thank you could you would you mind forwarding me a copy of that after the hearing
I most certainly will. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Mr. Anastasia, do you have a client to adopt?
My client could raise his hand, please.
Her name.
your your clients okay john
Your client's name.
Okay, John.
we'll stipulate that you're a g a i think he's on mr chair can anybody hear me yep g -a -j -a -n
okay please spell your full name sir yep it's uh gudgeon jeganathan g -a -j -a -n first name last
name is j -e -g -a -n -a -t -h -a -n you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the
truth i do thank you mr anastasio please proceed thank you gajan did you hear my presentation to
the board this morning yes and is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge
yes and would you adopt it as your own testimony yes thank you very much thank you any questions
from the board no mr chairman oh no anyone else would like to testify in this case please raise
your hand i see no hands here thank you planning commission good morning david facto city planning
commission mr chairman members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change in the
existing single family zoning at this location we typically oppose curb cuts on residential blocks
However, George Street, at the rear of this property, has developed into something like a service alley.
Curb cuts and garages are the norm and not the exception.
We recommend that the board support the requested variance.
Thank you very much. MI 2021 -001 -966.
1926 Cambridge Street, my vote is yes.
Harold Tenneri, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman
James Snell, my vote is yes
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes
Confessor Plaza, my vote is yes
Thank you all
We will now go to cases 8 and 9
MI 2021 -001962
2450 Kimball Street
and MI 2021 -001 -961.
Let me do that again.
MI 2021 -001 -961, 2452 Kimball Street.
Mr. Whelan is the attorney of record for both cases.
South of South's Neighborhood Association
supports both applications.
Good morning, Mr. Whelan.
excuse me good morning you're just so used to me presenting so late at night
please spell your full name and i'll swear you in sure sean whalen w -h -a -l -e -n vintage law
6 coulter avenue suite 1000 ardmore pa 19003 you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing about the truth yes i do thank you ms uh tenere has some questions for you sir do you
agreed away with the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, I do. Have you
emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and or
plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing? And have you met with the RCO? And do you
have a letter? Yes, yes, and yes. Okay, you may proceed. Thank you very much. We do have full
support. So I will be brief and obviously just be willing to answer any questions that the board may
have. So I'm representing the owner of 2450 and 2452 Kimball Street. These are two adjacent
existing buildings. Hopefully you can see where we're at. Right on the Kimball block in between
24th and 25th. Again, two adjacent buildings. I'll just quickly show you. So here they are.
These are actually long, vacant buildings that have become a nuisance to the block.
And I have to say this might be a first, but I had ecstatic support from both adjacent neighbors.
The whole block is RSA 5.
We are keeping the properties single -family houses.
uh in fact we have one refusal for each uh property um both of which are uh simply that
we were trying to put on a third floor and this is a two a generally two -story block
um you can see that we went in front of sasna and it was a 10 -0 vote um sasna was actually
wildly in support also because we agreed to do they didn't want a flat third story
They made it a mansard roof with a dormer, and that was what Sosna preferred.
And again, all of the immediate neighbors very much want these properties kind of put back to good use and to no longer be vacant on the block.
uh good use and to no longer be vacant on the block and the last thing i would note is we have
revised plans one page per property and those were previously sent and essentially the only
change again is to make there were some small details that the neighborhood wanted to see
but the only major zoning change was to show the mansard roof on the third floor
So with that, unless the chair, anyone else has any questions for me, I'd be happy to call Joe Soutou.
Let's get your client on and then we'll ask you just questions.
Mr. Soutou, if you could raise your hand.
Hi, Mr. Soutou, please spell your last name and I'll swear you in.
S as in Sam, U, T as in Tom, O, W.
Your first name is Joe, J -O -E.
Joseph, but I go by Joe, yes.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. Whalen.
Mr. Suto, you're here on behalf of the property owner, correct?
Correct.
And did you hear all of my testimony?
And do you believe it was true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
yes uh you you mentioned the third floor was the uh refusal it's it's the eight foot setback was
the refusal and um not the third floor altogether but the eight foot setback but yes yes correct
and we're putting on a mansard roof to uh to make everybody happy with the revised plans
with that one uh clarification would you adopt my testimony as your own yes all right thank you
very much uh chair i offer mr suto for any questions the board may have otherwise we rest
um i'm not clear is there a proviso or as it relates to the setback or not no so so i again
i was trying to go too quickly i can go to the refusal the refusal is that on a two on a with
houses that are two stories on either side of a given property right you're allowed a third story
but the third story has to be set back eight feet we were trying not to have a flat third floor
front with no eight foot setback the neighbors and sostner both requested that we do a mansard
roof instead of a flat third floor but that we did not need the eight foot um so that's what we
agreed to do and that's what is shown in the revised plans i apologize for being unclear in
my description so is the revised plan how many pages uh one page per property so one page for
number eight and one page for number nine thank you any questions from the board no mr chairman
no anyone else like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand in these cases i should
say plural i see no handshare thank you planning commission good morning david vecto city planning
commission mr chairman members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change in the
existing single family zoning at this location with the addition of a mansard roof on each
property we recommend that the board approve the requested variants for each of these properties
Thank you. MI 2021 -001962, 2450 Kimball Street. My vote is yes with revised plan, one page approved today. And MI 2021 -001961, 2452 Kimball Street. My vote is yes with revised plan, one page approved today.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso on both cases.
Confessor Plaza, my vote is yes to both, with provisos.
James Snell, yes to both, with provisos.
Thomas Holliman, yes to both, with provisos.
Thank you, and I'll go to case number 10.
Thank you very much.
MI 2021 -001895 -3418H, letter H as in Harry Street.
Henry Clinton is the attorney of record.
Harrogate Civic supports this application.
And he's coming in now as a panelist.
Good morning again, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Henry Clinton for the applicant.
1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia,
PA, Queen Memorial Building, 19146.
but you're still under oath Ms. Tenere has some questions for you
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral,
photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO?
And do you have a letter?
Yes, to all of the above.
Okay, you may proceed.
Is this large enough?
It's good. Okay. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. This concern is 3418 8th Street. And on the line with me is Mrs. Castro, who will adopt my testimony at the end. Table of contents, AA through A11, which I ask to be admitted into evidence.
appearance statement, refusal. So this is an RSA 5 zone, but as you will see from the photographs,
I will show you, since 1957, this corner property has been used as garages for automobile,
for roofing businesses, for other commercial uses. It's really an eyesore, and the community was
happy to see this proposal and happy to see that the eyesore that's there right now
will be gone if the board looks kindly upon this approval.
So as I said, this is a corner property
and the request is for four units
in this RSA 5 zoning district.
We do have a letter of support from Harrogate Civic
and you can see it was an overwhelming support,
23 to zero because of the condition
of the property right now.
So this is an aerial view
looking at 8th Street. And this is the garage series. Actually, it's a series of garages
all the way down the block. It's 100 % lot coverage. There's no yard at all. It never has
been. This is a closer view of the property. Again, you can just see it's in really, really
bad shape. My clients are from the neighborhood. In fact, Mrs. Castro's mother lives across the
street or Mr. Castro's mother lives directly across the street from this project.
Again, an aerial photograph.
Show you the plans. I'm going to have to reduce this a little bit so I can get it on.
So this is the site plan indicating that the intent is to demolish the existing property
and build a structure that does not encompass 100 % of the lot.
We have no issues with open space, a rear yard, or height in this project.
So by demolishing the garages, we are opening up the back here
and letting some light and air come in to the other homes on the property.
This is just, again, another view indicating here's the property with an alley in the back.
these are the four plans we're going to have a bi -level unit on the first floor and basement
and then another bi in the rear of the property and then another bi -level in the front
with rear steps to access the rear apartment and front steps to access the apartment in the front
and then on the second floor will be another unit and then on the third floor would be another unit
this is the rooftop there's no rooftop deck on this property you can just see that these are
for air conditioning units this is the elevation again trying to use brick and some some siding
here to blend in with the neighborhood this is the rear elevation that's going to be cement board
siding in the rear side elevation indicating access rear yard side of the property as well
in front of the house. And again, my client tried to use a lot of brick, again, to keep in with the
look of the neighborhood, which is mainly brick facades. Some double -hung windows and some
casement windows are blended in. The rest of the documents that I have are the pro forma documents,
tax certification, my application for appeal. But one thing I did want to show the board was
from the zoning archives, I was able to find something from 1957, you know, indicating this
was private storage for garage and for roofing materials. And hopefully that no longer will be
the case. The rest of the documents are other typical documents, the deed indicating ownership
and our tax certification. So in summation, this is a lot that has historically been
bothersome to the neighborhood. They welcome the development. They welcome someone from the
neighborhood actually getting an opportunity to develop this parcel, Mr. and Mrs. Castro.
getting an opportunity to develop this partial Mr. and Mrs. Castro it's in conformity with what
the neighborhood wants historically has been commercial and in light of the overwhelming
support I asked the board to look kindly upon this and if there are any questions I'll field them
or if Mrs. Castro is can be unmuted I will ask her to adopt my testimony.
Castro, would you please identify yourself with the record?
Spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
And you can unmute yourself.
I'm sorry.
N as in Nancy, A, T, H, I, F as in Frank, A, Castro, C, A, S, T, R, O.
you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes thank you mr uh good morning mrs castro have you uh viewed and listened to my presentation
this morning concerning your project yes if you had the opportunity to testify would you adopt
my testimony as your own and as true and correct yes thank you mrs castro thank you any questions
from the board no mr chairman anyone else like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
yes chair we have small folks mr folks you can unmute yourself thank you good morning mr folks
please identify yourself and i'll swear you in good morning chairman de chico and zba board
my name is sloan folks s -l -o -a -n -e -f as in fire o -l -k -s i'm calling from the office of council
and Maria Quinonez Sanchez, move 508 City Hall.
You swear, affirm, to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, sir.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
The applicants having met with the coordinating RCO and receiving a letter of support,
our office offers no opposition to this various requests.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Anyone else to testify in this case?
No more hands, Chair.
Thank you.
Planning Commission?
Good morning.
David Vecto, City Planning Commission, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in the existing single -family zoning at this location.
There is no unique characteristic of this 1116 -square -foot lot to prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
We recommend that the board deny the requested variance for four dwelling units.
chair you're muted
sorry about that mi 2021 -001895 3418h as in henry street my vote is yes
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes.
Professor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
Thank you.
Number 11 on our list, MI 2021 -001893, 700 -06 Master Street.
Mr. Anastasio is the attorney of record.
14th ward democratic committee supports this application with provisos mr anastasio
identify yourself please you're still under oath good morning mr chairman members of the board
burn anastasio 1315 walnut street that's a -n -a -s -t -a -s -i -o it's 1315 walnut philadelphia
one nine one zero seven area has questions for you say it again is the nary has questions yes
of course since do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy yes have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of
the refusal or referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter? Yes. Thank you. You may proceed.
Thank you. I'm going to share my screen, which I was sharing a minute ago. There it goes. All
right, great. Not only do we have one letter of support, we have two letters of support from the
RCO, one being the 14th War Democratic Executive Committee with whom we've entered into a CBA.
as it says first sentence the rco supports the applicants of proposed variances and then of
course we also have a letter from west gerard progress uh it says they unanimously vote to
West Girard Progress.
It says they unanimously vote to support the project.
So with that, this is actually a pretty simple one.
We're just looking for an off -street accessory parking spot
to a house that's already previously approved.
The lot is required as 20 % with a minimum open area.
we're offering seven and a half the rear yard depth although it says zero there's actually
a rear yard and i'll explain that in a minute and same thing with the open area
this is the house itself we don't need to get into but i will take you to
this graphic that'll explain exactly what we're proposing
here's master street here's seventh obviously this is not a front loading
garage but because it's in the rear of the property but entered on the side it's not
considered a rear access so this one car parking would be right here
we have exclusive access to the rear yard through the alleyway where there would be
trash receptacles for the four units in the main building again the building is being built as a
matter of right we're only here for this one car parking but as you can see there is open space
there is a rear yard it's just not technically treated as such under the code with that here
renderings of the property in question this is what it'll look like when it's done
what was there is actually parking for two cars a curb cut that was twice the size
so that's what is was existing prior to construction and we're actually putting
another car on the street instead of taking a car off the street so and that's
here's our proof of mailing 148 households here's our poster that also went out and we
had unanimous support from both um rcos with provisos for trash receptacles and uh we have
a private cva between the parties and with that if there's no other well before we get
of questions i'd like my client michael jacoby to raise his hand
and he's available mr jacoby please spell your full name and i swear you in
good morning uh first name m -i -c -h -a -e -l last name j -a -c -o -b -y do you swear for him to tell
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes sir all right thank you mr anastasio thank you
mr chairman michael did you hear my presentation to the board this morning yes the true and accurate
to the best of your knowledge yes and would you adopt it as your own testimony yes thank you
nothing further mr chair thank you any questions from the board no mr chairman no yes sir uh anyone
else like to justify in this case if so please raise your hand yes chair we have a jerome hill
hello mr hill please uh identify yourself spell your full name and i'll swear you in
drum hill um j -e -r -o -m -e -h -i -l -l um neighbor uh live on master street on the 600 block
um i guess i would just excuse me sir do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes sir thank you please proceed um i guess i would just like to to log
you know i guess two two complaints one is you know i see that he mailed out lots of stuff we
never received anything um to any previous um sessions um i was given a notification by a
neighbor of this hearing. This is the reason I'm even attending. My second point would be that
while those two spots were there, as a person who's in the neighborhood for some time, there
never have been any use of those driveways, those parking spots for years. So it wouldn't really be
taking a car off the street. The second is that in this area, especially along Marshall
and some other streets there are several cars with or excuse me houses with garages
where individuals don't use them for car spots parking is
where individuals don't use them for car spots.
Parking is a really tight and premium,
so I feel like another spot that's not being used for a car or for anything else
other than a car is not beneficial,
considering it would take a parking spot from the street.
That is all.
Mr. Chairman, I think the witness will be happy to know
that my client Mr. Jacoby is actually going to be living in the building
and this is specifically for his car so it will be
off the street for sure and the curb cut will be half
of the length it currently is. Anyone else would testify in this case?
Yes we have a Ms. Monroe
Monroe, 14th Ward. Ms. Monroe
please identify yourself with the record and I swear you in. Okay
Okay. Diane Munro. D -I -A -N -E -M -O -N -R -O -E.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed.
Okay, thank you.
As you know, with this project, we do have provisos, and we did go into a CBA,
wherein he said we'll honor our provisos.
and the most important thing is about the trash we realized that um the yard
um his application um he was getting rid of the open area and the depth of the yard and you know
what trash has been a major problem and um but with if this is granted he did say and his
illustration is showing that he will have the trash held behind the garage
wherein it will be out of sight those trash receptacles will be out of the public view
for the young man that just called in who just spoke um um you know i'm so sorry that um
a lot of those residents over there do not get the notifications and we did the ones that
tuned in for our zba hearing or i'm sorry our zoom open community meeting um we didn't get any
comments of opposition and hopefully it will work out well over there and I don't know if I
if it's appropriate for me to do this but if he can reach out to me we will definitely put his
name on our email list so he will definitely be notified I don't know if he was within that
It was a 250 feet notification of the impact community that he missed it, and the developer is supposed to put the poster on the site that indicate the our open community meeting.
I'm so sorry about that so because we don't no longer have in -house meetings.
um so otherwise than that this um the developer has promised and we hope that
you cannot put any a lot of our our um provisos on but hopefully you'll be able to emphasize the
proviso about the trash that it will be kept back there um behind that area that they are
are destined to be a trash storage place.
Thank you, again, Ms. Monroe.
Mr. Anastasia, do we have a revised page, you said?
Is there a provision?
No, it's just a community benefits agreement.
That's it, yep, and it's been fully executed document.
OK, thank you.
Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Chair, this is Sharon Saleta.
In addition to the community benefits agreement, Ms. Monroe's letter did specifically request a proviso regarding trash.
If you could add a proviso stating trash stored to rear of garage out of public view, that would be.
I got that in. I made my notes already. Thank you.
I apologize.
No, no, no. You didn't know. You're not sitting next to me. So I made a note of that. Thank you.
Anyone else to testify? I think I asked. Planning Commission.
Good morning, David Fecto, City Planning Commission, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in the existing residential multifamily zoning at this location.
The variances sought appear to mirror existing nonconformities.
the variances sought appear to mirror existing non -conformities we recommend that the board
approve the requested variances thank you MI 2021 -001893 700 -06 master street my vote is yes
with the proviso trash to be stored in rear of garage out of sight of public out of the public
view thank you carol tenere my vote is yes with proviso
i say yes with proviso james snell yes with proviso thomas holliman yes with proviso thank
you i believe that concludes the 9 30 list does anyone feel as though they've not been recognized
on any of the cases.
Chair, we have Dan.
Dan, you can unmute yourself.
Dan Auerbach?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
I came a little...
Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me.
Spell your full name, please.
Dan Auerbach, A -U -E -R -B -A -C -H.
You swear for him to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
i was just checking on the status of uh 2349 north 20th street i came a little late i wasn't
sure if it's continued uh at the beginning of the hearing i had requested a continuance i just don't
know the the status of that request 2349 north 20th is has been continued uh thank you mr chairman
thank you anyone else no more hands here okay that concludes the 9 30 list uh see everyone
back here at two o 'clock. Thank you.
good afternoon everyone my name is frank d chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment
i'll be participating in today's hearing along with our vice chair ms carol tenere
board secretary confessor plaza and board members mr thomas holloman and mr james snell
Board Administrator Lakeisha Dandy and Board Attorney Ms. Sharon Saleta are also in attendance.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings, I'll go through some
of the basics of what you can expect. First, we will be administering oaths to individual
participants prior to their testimony. Second, we'd like to advise everyone that this proceeding
is being recorded and that by participating you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded
and that the recording will be made available to the public on the web or otherwise.
Third, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
I'll repeat.
For anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue. I'll repeat that.
To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
And I'd like to remind everyone, please do not attempt to testify in the chat.
Any comments, concerns, or questions you have should be directed to our board administrator, Ms. LaFeshia Dandy.
Having said that, I will now begin with the add -on list for the 2 o 'clock hearing.
And let me pull that. MI 2021.
So for the other board members, this is not on our sheet.
this was just sent over to me by Sharon a few minutes ago. MI 2021.
sent over to me by Sharon a few minutes ago. MI 2021 -000460, 441 Brown Street.
I read the transcript and I watched the video.
Chair, excuse me, this is Sharon. And just so you understand, this is a hearing on reconsideration.
The attorney is Rachel Pritzker. She'll be presenting all exhibits and testimony from the
prior hearing are incorporated into the record for this hearing thank you so noted um and she's
coming in as a panelist now thank you good afternoon good afternoon please identify yourself
and i'll swear you in sure rachel r -a -c -h -a -e -l pritzker p -r -i -t -z -k -e -r 1635 market street street
1600 philadelphia pa 19103 you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes all right thank you um i i sharon i guess carol needs to read in the uh the questions
or no since um yes yes do that okay carol um we we do know that the exhibits were we know that
the exhibits were submitted um this would only be for i think that um miss pritzker probably
needs to be sworn in rachel you weren't here this morning were you no i was not okay so that will
be all that you don't really need to do wave in this step i'm sorry mr chair no because this is
a hearing on reconsideration that was all done at the original hearing thank you so rachel do you
swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes thank you please proceed
Okay. And while I'm doing this, can Scott Woodruff be promoted to panelists as well? He is our architect to go through the plans. This is 441 Brown Street. This is a intermediate lot that is zoned RSA 5.
We're proposing an attached building with roof decks at second floor and side third floor roof deck and roof deck access structures with an elevator above the third floor for the use as a single family household living to include private residence parking garage.
The refusal says two parking spaces. The main revision that we made here in collaboration with the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association and the Near Neighbors is just to reduce the size of the curb cut from two car to one car.
And we have proviso plans and revised plans to that effect. Most of the refusals were generated based on the RSA 5 based district and not allowing for accessory off -street parking.
and the property doesn't have any ability to provide it from a rear street or a rear alleyway
we've reduced again the curb cut width and Scott can provide that with the plans it's not uncommon
to have front -loaded parking on the street there's several other properties that have front -loaded
parking on the street and I don't believe we have any opposition I know we don't have any opposition
from northern liberties neighbors association i believe um kenny grono from northern liberties
is also on the call this is the lot as the board can see um and then from the photos the aerial
photos and then from the front as the board can see has an existing garage um and an existing
building and then further down the street um 425 429 and 433 blonde street all have accessory
off -street parking access by a front street so it's within the context of the neighborhood
and we'll provide for off -street parking um with the property that already has existing parking
excuse me this is sharon i can confirm that we received a letter in support from northern
liberties neighborhood association and a letter in non -opposition from councilman squilla
thank you so yeah i have uh the letter up on the screen um for support and um as sharon mentioned
in a letter of support from or non -opposition from the council office um other than that if
just scott could go through the pr the plans briefly so that if the board has any questions
we can answer them and then other than that i'm happy to take um any other questions um i also
will want to ask as an officer of the court if uh i could have my client adopt my testimony he's not
able to make it today but i've been authorized to affirm his testimony as long as it's okay with the
board noted thank you uh before you begin uh is there a proviso still with this one page revised
plan yes okay all right you'll proceed and uh we'll we'll read that into the record thank you okay
um could we promote scott woodruff yep um i'm promoted great scott are you able to just go
through the plans let's swear them in scott please spell your full name uh scott woodruff
Scott Woodruff, W -O -O -D -R -U -F -F, 4001 Main Street, Suite 203 -19127.
W -O -O -D -R -U -F -F.
Do you swear for them to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Rachel, please proceed.
Thank you.
Scott, if you could just share your screen and go through the plans, specifically just
the revised plans and the changes that we made working with the community.
And then obviously, if the board has any questions, we can pause when you're done.
Sure, absolutely. So essentially what we've done to the plans is we originally had a two -car garage.
We've removed that and gone to a one -car garage, essentially making sure that the existing curb cut,
the new curb cut that will be provided will be no bigger than the existing one that's already there.
As Rachel said, this is the existing photos. You can see there's a current one -story garage.
curb cuts on the left side of the building we're simply just moving it to uh you know the right
side uh so there's no additional impacts on the the actual street here you can see the plans we'll
have the one car garage on the right side there's an entry in um we're moving it to the right side
just to create a better circulation flow as we have a weird kind of kink uh in the property it's
kind of a weird, weird shape here. But again, this is made to be a primary residence.
Again, three stories, we're under 38 feet. We do have a pilot house and an elevator to go
from basement to the top floor, but all within the dimensional considerations needed for RSA 5.
Again, work with the community on any aesthetic needs that they had, but there weren't any
specific things that were brought up besides having a little bit more of a recessed entry
and kind of stoop, which we did do within the front facade here to give a little bit
more street appeal and kind of eyes on the street.
And then again, this is just kind of looking at some of the parking, kind of showing that
there'll be no loss of parking on the street with this one space that we're providing based
on you know the existing curb cuts there we're just moving it down uh a few feet
rachel anything else you wanted me to go over yeah do you just go back um one more slide where
you were with you had the photos of the near neighbor properties i just think it's oh uh
yeah so yeah just so the board can see those are the properties i i had called out just to show
that this is in context um on the block as well even for these are just further down on the street
um and scott just to confirm uh we have one page uh for revised plans correct
uh correct yep one page revised plans again basically curve cut shifts um and to accommodate
uh you know some of the those changes that we have great happy to take any questions uh at this
time um before we go any questions from the board no no sorry correct me if i'm wrong we're going
to be holding this uh until next week um chair if you've watched the video as long as you announce
that on the record you can vote it now okay thank you uh anyone else would like to testify in this
case i just wanted to give um if kenny grono from the northern liberties neighbors association is
able to uh speak i know he had made time to come to the hearing mr grono there's no hands at this
time oh there is kenny kenny grono g -r -o -n -o yes i'm here hi mr grono please spell your name
for the record and i'll swear you in k -e -n -n -y g -r -o -n -o
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth
i do thank you sir please proceed um uh everything they said today is correct we've seen them a
couple times and we have no opposition to this thank you anyone else to testify in this case
if so please raise your hand yes chair we have a larry friedman mr friedman you can unmute yourself
yes hi uh can you hear me yes please identify yourself and i'll swear you yeah i uh i had
raised my hand before larry larry larry oh i'm sorry here we go larry friedman north of liberties
Please, Zoning Chair.
What about your last name, Larry, for the record?
By your last name, Larry, for the record.
Yeah, F -R -E -E -D -M -A -N.
Yeah, F -R -E -E -D -M -A -N.
You swear if I'm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Yeah, I'm sorry. What I was saying, I raised my hand before I realized Kenny was on.
He was the co -chair.
So I just wanted to add that we had seen this application a couple of times.
um and of course we're very we dig deep when it comes into people asking for a street side uh
parking uh but this was had a unique history in that that garage has been there since forever
uh and people uh on that block the neighbors who came to the meeting park around it so in in a way
it's an existing situation uh they asked for two spots in terms of two curb cuts and we said uh
let's just go with one give us an 11 foot curb cut and they did they revised their plans
the neighbors were okay with that and that's why we're supporting it thank you anyone else
to testify in this case no hands at this time chair thank you planning commission
good afternoon chair i'm sorry yeah he has to be sworn in yeah you want to do it now
please identify yourself yep hi good afternoon um chair members of the board my name is greg
waldman planning commission staff my last name is spelled w -a -l -d as in david m as in michael
a n you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do thank you please proceed um this property is indicated for single family residential on the
comprehensive plan. At the previous hearing, we had objected to the granting of the variance
based on the increased width of the front -loaded garage. However, since that has been reduced
to what is now existing, we support the granting of the variance. Thank you. MI 2021 -000460 -441
brown street my vote is yes with the proviso revised plan one page approved today carol
tenere my vote is yes professor plaza my vote is yes with proviso james snell my vote is yes
with proviso jim uh tom is not with us so there's only four of us thank you uh the other add -on
MI 2021 -002415. 1222 Shackamaction Street. My vote is no to rehearing and reconsideration.
Carol Tenere, my vote is no to hearing and reconsideration.
Professor Plaza, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
James Snell, my vote is no to reconsideration and rehearing.
Thank you. I will now read off the continuance requests for the two o 'clock hearing list.
Excuse me, Chair, there is one more add -on. There is Uber Street. In this case, there was
one witness whose testimony you are going to take. She mistakenly thought it was a live hearing and
went to 1515 Arch on the original hearing date. Her name is Mrs. Jones, but I'm afraid I don't
know her first name um carol do you have that information or no no i just know that mary jones
asked that the vote be held for testimony we certainly will we will certainly permit that
i'm just looking for um it's in your revised um summaries that were sent this morning but i can
read out the information is that uber street correct that's it yes that's correct
her name's not in there
um her name is not in there i only know that she is a miss jones because
the other miss jones from councilman clark's office told me her name
and has been helping her perhaps we could see if either or both of them are here
is either miss jones here we have mary jones coming in now
um hello good afternoon yeah mary uh let's just swear you in and then i have a question
for you all right okay um mary jones council president daryl clark uh city hall room 494
you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do. I do. And I just hold on. I'm, for some reason, every time I click on to get this add -on.
Chair, I can read the information if you'd like.
Chair, I can read the information if you'd like. Yeah, I was going to ask you to, because I keep losing.
Yeah, I was going to ask you to because I keep losing it every time I go to open it up.
Sure. It's MI 2021 001476. The address is 731 North Uber Street.
The attorney for the applicant is Roger Perry.
And this was originally heard on July 28th.
Ms. Jones, is the other Ms. Jones here? Do you know?
Yeah, I spoke to a Richard Alston from the Senior Law Center who was assisting her with logging in today.
I sent him the link to register right before, so perhaps he's in the audience to help her speak.
If you're in the audience, can you raise your hand for me, please?
chair richard austin is that richard austin and miss uh eudora jones is present okay uh
please spell your full name mr austin richard r -i -c -h -a -r -d last name a -l -s -t -o -n
you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth
I do. Okay. I actually was able to bring up the case on my, my iPhone, my phone.
And chair, if we could check one more time to ask if Mr. Roger Perry is in attendance.
Mr. Perry, if you're out there, please raise your hand.
i don't think he necessarily has to be he did know that this testimony was going to be accepted
today and he had no objection okay um miss jones mary jones how do you want to proceed do you want
to have any opening statement or we just go to the other miss jones i think the only thing that
Mr. Perry agreed to really was for the witness to put her testimony on the record I apologize
Ms. Jones that is Mary Jones this is confusing yeah no worries and that's exactly right okay
thank you so Mr. Alston you're representing the other Ms. Jones uh yes we're assisting Ms. Jones
um on this matter she um is not that tech savvy she came to our office for assistance with
request to this matter yeah we apologize that for the confusion that brought her to 1500 art street
yes i apologize on behalf of the board and everyone else um so you can proceed yes
yes i can okay please proceed ma 'am uh let me swear you on your full name
Eudora Jones, Y -O -D -O -R -A, Jones, J -O -N -E -S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Please proceed.
Okay. I'm here because they want to build a house next door to me, 48 feet high.
they have taken over our neighborhood we don't no longer have an alley where i live at is two
is three houses together never supposed to be fenced off because that's our way of getting
out if a fire starts in the front so it's in my deed that is never to be changed
so i can't see them building something there where i can't even see next door to me
i couldn't get out for fire start because they done took over the alleyway they don't clean
the mess that they make and furthermore where are they if they want to tear their house down
that's rodents we no longer want rodents last when they did the houses on 19th street our block was
full of it. Plus
I just redid my
house. I don't want
it took me six months to
get rid of all of that stuff.
They don't clean up behind themselves.
There's no place on
Uber Street for them to park.
I don't want them parking on my payment.
What guarantee do I have
if something go wrong with my
house that they won't fix
Plus it's kids on that block.
And we just don't want it.
I had a petition taken out and they put their signature on it.
So it was for low income.
Now, I don't work all my life.
I paid for that house.
I'm getting ready to retire.
I'm getting ready to retire.
I want to sit back and enjoy my home.
I want to sit back and enjoy my life.
I feel safe there.
I don't drive.
Everything is convenient for me right there.
And I have grandkids that come and visit and want to be in the backyard and in the front yard.
it then they want to take and build a house all the way to to the front where they don't even have
a payment anymore and it's just not fair to me because i don't want the rodents no more
i just rebuilt my house i just put a roof on my house what guarantee do i have
well as it relates to your concern for any damage that would
be caused to your house by the construction and demolition pictures would be taken of your
property inside and out prior to any construction and if there's any damage you'll have you would
have proof of that um as for rodents i i suspect that they're going to be required to uh yeah but
they said them three houses is never supposed to be fenced off if they build that house they're
gonna fence me in if i have a fire and i have to come out the back i have nowhere to go in all
honestly ma 'am i have to i would have to review the application i don't not i don't recall and
of the details the only thing i will say is apparently the rco united francisville has
taken no position unless that has changed the event sharon has that changed not that i'm aware
of. Chair, if I could suggest
that if you were to hold this for
discussion next week, I could send you
again all of the plans to review.
Yeah, I think it would be helpful
to me and the rest of the other board members
because I honestly don't.
Absolutely.
Ms. Jones
from Uber Street, you were about to say?
Yeah, but my D said
it's never supposed to be fenced off.
I wouldn't have never bought a house
if I didn't have a way out.
We understand that.
is never to be fenced off. Understood. We're going to review
the presentation, so we'll have a better idea as to how we decide to vote, okay?
Yes. All right. Ms. Jones, Mary Jones, you'll be notified, yes.
hello yeah mary is that you i think frank froze oh okay i thought he was calling me
i recognize your voice and i just see oh now he's now he's back frank you froze for a while
i'm sorry um okay it says my internet connection is unstable i don't know if that's me or the
machine uh mary mary jones i apologize do you have anything to add um we we did not
Our office didn't take a position on this one.
It was just wanting to give Ms. Jones an opportunity to speak since she didn't have it before.
Okay, understood.
And again, Ms. Jones from Uber Street, we apologize for the miscommunication on where the hearing would be held.
And, excuse me, Ms. Jones from Councilman Clark's office, thank you for all your help with this.
Appreciate it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you all.
All right, Sharon, we can move on now to the next case?
Yes, you can.
or you can i gotta read into the record yeah or continuances are there continuances to be read
i don't think we do i'm going to get into that next i just want to make sure that everyone
understands mi 2021 -001476731 north uber street uh the record is the record is closed the board
will discuss and a decision at next wednesday's executive session okay now i will read off the
continuance. Mr. Chair, you muted yourself. Time that happened. Sorry. I'm going to read off the
continuance list for the two o 'clock hearings. Number seven, MI 2021 -001 -976, 4927 West Thompson
street number eight on our list mi 2021 -002181 -5101 -07 westminster avenue request for
continuance by the attorney and so far that's those are the
And so far, that's those are the requests for continuance is a two o 'clock list.
If anyone is objects.
So I'm sorry, there was one we just before the hearing started, received another continuance request for number 11.
This is the request was made by the attorney's applicant who is asking for more time to meet with Councilwoman Parker's office.
Okay. MI 2021 -002175. 5916 North 13th Street is also requested to be continued. If anyone objects to the request for the three continuances I just read into the record, please raise your hand at this time. Only if you object to those continuances.
chair we have a mark harris
good afternoon mr harris please identify yourself for the record and i'll swear you in
i'm mark harris
hello mr harris you're you're breaking up would you try that again i'm mark harris president
cathedral park cdcna spell your last name harris h -a -r -r -i -s you swear from to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do thank you what case you're speaking to sir
a 4927 west thompson street there's a request uh for a continuance uh i just wish to express
objection to continuance okay um anyone else
yes chair
we have the evelyn tucker
oh i'm sorry we have um alan
no that's right evelyn tucker okay miss tucker please spell your full name and i'll swear you
in? Sure. It's E -V -E -L -Y -N Tucker, T -U -C -K -E -R. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Thank you. Please proceed. I just want to make
sure I'm clear on what's happening today because I've never experienced this before,
but my home is adjacent to 5916 North 13th Street, which is, I believe the lawyer just
asks for a continuance. So does that mean that there's going to be another Zoom call? I just
want to make sure I'm clear for my mom because she's not texting. Yeah, that's basically what
we're doing. We usually give either side an opportunity to continue the case to see if
they can resolve any issues. Okay. And in this case, the attorney for the applicant
has asked for a continuance because the attorney, Mr. Whelan, would like an opportunity to speak
to the councilwoman parker okay okay i just wanted to make sure no worries thank you thank you
chair this is sharon might we see if um the attorney clementa amazon is present to respond
to the objection to the continuance for thompson street thank you thank you is miss amazon available
hi good afternoon please spell your full name and i'll swear you in clementa amazon c -l -e -m -e -n -t -a
last name a -m -a -z -a -n you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth not nothing but the
truth i do so there's a you requested a continuance there was one individual so far who
is opposed to the continuance
please just
let us know why you're requesting the continuance
we would like to have the opportunity
to further discuss with the community
the proposed project
which is not unusual thank you
thank you
anyone else
no more hands at this time
so anyway
To Mr. Harris, who was objecting to the continuance on Thompson Street, so you'll know it's pretty normal procedure for this board to grant a continuance, at least one continuance.
Sometimes the applicant and the opposing parties can reach an agreement.
Sometimes they can come to some agreement to move forward.
We'll hear the case at the appropriate time, and the board will make a decision then.
I will now ask if anyone would like to request a continuance or withdrawal on the two o 'clock list.
If so, please raise your hand if you'd like to request a continuance or withdrawal.
No hands, Chair.
Thank you.
Uh, first case on our list is number one, MI 2021, that's 002 -117, 1 Convention Avenue.
First case on our list is number one, MI 2021.
Ron Patterson is the attorney of record, 27th Ward Republican RCO, supports the application.
Is Mr. Patterson out there?
Yes, he's coming in now as a panelist.
You. Good afternoon, Mr. Patterson, please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Hi, good afternoon. Ronald Patterson, Claire Harrison Law Firm, 1835 Market Street,
Philadelphia EPA 19103. We have an ear for me to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth. Yes, I do. Miss Tenere, Miss Tenere has some questions for you.
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral,
voters under plans five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, to the above.
Okay, thank you. You may proceed.
Thank you.
So I have a picture here of what this application regards. It's the Copper Building. So it's on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Medicine. This is the Pavilion Hospital. It's located at 34th and Convention Avenue next to the museum, which you see on your right.
As I scroll through here, and important to note as I go through these pictures, you'll see surrounding buildings with identification and wayfinding signage, and that's what this case is about.
It's about a sign. It's a sign case.
You'll see that the building looks kind of barren with no identification.
It's the location of the former Penn Tower.
It's a state -of -the -art building.
We service in cardiology, oncology, and neurosciences.
It's an innovative facility that also supports researchers, clinicians, and faculty.
It has 500 private rooms and suites, no more double bedrooms, 47 operating rooms, 1 .5 million
square feet.
It also has pedestrian bridges that connect the building across 34th Street, as well
as to, there's a bridge, to set the terminal to the rear. Signage, believe it or not, actually
most of the signage is required by the Department of Health for wayfinding reasons and identification
reasons. The property, this application, regards nine signs. Here's a picture of the surrounding
sign of a different building. Picture of our building. This is back where the separate
terminal is. There's a pedestrian bridge here. There's also a tunnel that goes beneath 34th
street it's very sophisticated building yeah here's an example with some other signs ron ron
can you hear me yes yeah we still see the original slide you have of the building with the no signage
on it oh okay all right let me try and um yeah i don't think you have to go in too much detail i
think this is obviously an easy case for us but whatever you need for the record you know uh sure
Sure. Let me pull this up here.
It's important to see.
Okay. You see my package here?
Okay. Beautiful.
signage, where what I showed you are some pedestrian bridges here, pedestrian bridge,
surrounding buildings with names on them. Yeah, I'll get to quickly what's going on here. So
signs. Here's our building. Here's a, here's a site plan showing the signage
within the blue lines, not outside of the lines, the ID, WL, PD. So here's a list of signage
starting with PD one. So we're basically, we're asking for four wall signs, two, three monument
sign as freestanding signs. Two of them are monuments. One is directional, one window sign
and one building ID sign, which I'll briefly show you, wall sign.
which I'll briefly show you. Wall sign at the top, window sign at the bottom.
Here's some more wall signs, ambulance, emergency. To the bottom here where it says pavilion is the
free standing sign which is a monument sign. To the left you'll see another free standing sign
which is a wayfinding sign. There's some details about that. Here's another view of the flat wall
sign. And most importantly, you'll see is the building identification sign at the top of the
building to identify the building. So that's SP INS Special Institutional District. It's a campus
wide approach to zoning. It collectively takes all the properties within the campus and looks
added as one zoning property for GFA parking and signage. So this district allows freestanding
signs, but only three of them. We're proposing one. Obviously, it's a large property. And
so with the DOH requirements, we need to provide more than one. The building identification
sign you see here is at a location about 284 feet tall. In other areas like CMX 4 and 5,
this would be permitted only with approval of the art commission but nonetheless yes and we have our
commission approval which I sent you and so we feel of course that it can create a hardship not
to have any signs on this building and of course the signs are required for the for the DOH approval
We did meet with the community group, and they sent us an email letter that I have on the screen for you now.
With that said, I just quickly ask if you can promote Derek Toth, T -A -S -C -H.
i'm sorry ron yes did you conclude i did i have one witness i want to okay you don't mind
Derek Tash, T -A -S -C -H. Hi, this is Derek Tash, D -E -R -E -K -T -A -S -C -H, and I'm the health system
architect for the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Penn Medicine. Word for him to tell the
truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Thank you. Hi, Derek. Quickly, you've heard
my presentation and testimony. Would you say it is true and accurate and you would adopt it as your
Correct, 100%.
And could you briefly just briefly confirm about the requirement for the signage?
Yeah, there are requirements from the state just about identification of the sign itself.
I mean, it lends into clarity around exactly who you're receiving your health care from.
And then also just that this is a primary hospital with an emergency department.
There are also regulations around that.
you know, so the EV is clearly identified and there are rules around what needs to be included
for that clarity. And in your opinion, the signage is no different than what you see in the
surrounding buildings, probably even lesser? Correct. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. That's all I
have, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Questions from the board? No. No. Anyone else to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
No hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you.
Anyone else?
I'm sorry, Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the Board.
My name is Greg Waldman, Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change
in the existing special purpose
institutional zoning at this location.
The variances sought are to install three freestanding signs, whereas one is allowed in the zoning district, and two building identification signs, which are prohibited in the zoning district.
The majority of medical buildings associated with the University of Pennsylvania are zoned CMX5, including the one directed to the south, which permits these signs.
Therefore, the proposed variances would not alter the essential character of the medical campus.
Accordingly, we recommend that the requested variances be granted.
Thank you. MI 2021 -002 -1171 Convention Avenue, my vote is yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Confessor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Sharon, I'm a little confused. You just said skip number six?
Yes, it's the case that I told you would be on the add -ons list.
It was listed on the regular list, too, though not as a hearing on reconsideration.
so you've already taken care of that one okay scratch it off okay thank you just want a clarity
okay scratch it off okay thank you just want to clarity number two on our list mi 2021
number two on our list am i
that's zero zero two zero one five one zero zero seven frankfurt avenue michael matione
is the attorney of record fishtown neighbor association sent a letter of support
good afternoon mr chairman good afternoon
uh please identify yourself and i swear you win sure michael madioni m -a -t -t -i -o -n -i
federal reserve bank building 100 north independence mall suite 5a northwest philadelphia
19106 where the firm to tell the truth all truth nothing but the truth
thank you uh miss uh canary has some questions for you do you agree to wait the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of
ownership tax compliance refusal referral photos under plans of the property five days in advance
of this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes to everything okay and
as the chairman said uh fna sent a letter of support and you may proceed thank you
Again, I'm Michael Mattione, and I am representing Adam Diltz and Jenny Ko.
They are the co -owners of Elwood Restaurant, which is a fabulous restaurant located at 1007 Frankfurt Avenue.
And I do have our list of exhibits up on the screen, and they include a 2018 zoning permit permitting the opening of the restaurant,
support letter from the Fishtown neighbors, support letter from the Fishtown district and other RCO in
the area, plans for the site and the outdoor area, photos of the restaurant and surrounding area,
the CV of Jonathan Deutsch, our professor and director of the Drexel Food Corps Lab,
a restaurant industry expert, and support letters from Walnut Hill College, the Historic Foodway
Society of the Delaware Valley, the Lutheran Settlement House, Careers Through Culinary Arts
program, Penn Treaty Museum, and Slow Food Philadelphia. We do have three witnesses for
today, John Torrey, a real estate expert, Dr. Deutsch, a restaurant industry expert, and Adam
Dilts, the owner of Elwood. Elwood opened on May 1, 2019. When it originally opened, it was six
days a week, Tuesdays through Sundays, 4 .30 to 10, with tea service on Saturday and Sunday
afternoons but it's presently only four days per week thursday through sunday 4 30 to 10 with the
afternoon tea service on the weekend it's a small byo restaurant with um 28 seats
so here's the front door of elwood the original application also sought outdoor seating but the
zoning board added as a condition that there be no outdoor seating we're only here seeking
outdoor seating this is an existing restaurant outdoor seating in the rear yard of the property
it's extremely small but there is an outdoor area in the backyard and it's ideal for
outdoor seating but again in 28 or 20 i guess it was 16 when the permit was actually granted
there was a proviso elwood and adam diltz have won numerous awards since opening including a
three -bell review by Craig LeBan, and the 2019 Eater Award.
So here's the front door of the restaurant.
Again, that's looking to the west.
You can see I -95 is next to it.
There's a yard.
In this yard, there are billboards.
And you can see it's a really narrow sidewalk.
So you cannot have – and it's a 15 -foot -wide building.
See, there's no space for outdoor dining in front of the restaurant.
And then you have a lane of parking and then Frankfurt Avenue.
Okay, this is the open kitchen.
And when you walk in, that's what greets you.
That is the front door.
You walk in and here is the kitchen.
And then as you proceed through, you see here is the restaurant room with the total of 28 seats.
And then you go and you can see, again, it's a really narrow building.
And then you see the rear yard.
and these are the tables in what would be i guess the kitchen or the living room or dining room if
it was just a house well the building is is 15 feet wide it's really only 10 feet wide in most
of this seating area so again it's a really small um um area now the building itself is adjacent to
i -95 um it's got billboards this is the building and here are the billboards it's got billboards
next to it across the street from an open -air parking lot and has an auto body repair
across the street from an open air parking lot and has an auto body repair facility behind it
as well. So just want to give the context. That's a multifamily building, 1 ,001 to 1 ,005
Frankfurt Avenue next to it. Again, it's a legal non -conforming building. It's not a single family.
This is on RSA 5 zoning district. So there are no single family houses on this side of Frankfurt
Avenue. And there's a reason for that. It's really just not suitable for them. This is looking down
richmond street which is the corner property this is looking from behind the property this is the
elwood site there's two single family homes on sarah street which is the little street behind
as you can see i -95 is there see the billboards there as well
there's the auto body place behind us again looking uh richmond street behind us out front
the building you can see i -95 again right across the street you see the open air parking lot and
you see the fillmore a little bit over to the side there as well again a better shot of the
fillmore so this is the the context that we're dealing with why the variance was granted to
allow the restaurant use in the first place from the single family use that's legal here
as was shown at the original zba hearing the property has this unique location
and the board recognized it and granted the variance for the restaurant.
Due to concerns from one neighbor, the zoning board added a condition that there would be no outdoor seating.
That's why we don't have outdoor seating, and that's why we came back.
Since the opening, they've received incredible reviews.
The problem of the lack of outdoor seating has just gotten worse and worse since it opened.
There was a Wall Street Journal article on September 12th noting how numerous restaurants are closing dining rooms due to the pandemic, and it highlights the need as to why they really can't exist without this outdoor dining.
The pandemic did cause them to close for a while.
They didn't have outdoor seating, so they couldn't open up that quickly.
And in addition to the unnecessary hardship that we do believe exists, there are also changed conditions that support the grant of the variance.
The change in circumstances include the two newest nearby restaurants, Vince's Pizza and Fabrica.
Both have outdoor seating. There's Fabrica, as you can see, it has outdoor seating.
And there's Vince's Pizza, which also has outdoor seating. It's got a wider sidewalk.
excuse me so everybody else around them has outdoor seating they do not have outdoor seating
they have the ability to have it they have a yard that works well
um the outdoor seating area let me show you what that will look like
this is the the entire building and and lot this is the outdoor seating area
and this is again the the entire restaurant area with the outdoor seating and here's the
out there seating up close. The rear yard itself is about 38 feet deep, but they have a trash area
back here. They have stairs. They have a required walkway. They have the doors that open.
So you only have a small area that would have seating in it. It would be about 24 feet long
and about 10 feet wide. It would have 18 seats. It would have pavers, indirect lighting and trellis
on top plannings in addition to the 18 seats um again this is the only way to survive given what's
happened with the pandemic and everything else the neighboring property 1005 is a legal non -conforming
multi -family structure in this rsa 5 district it does have a couple of windows that are up in this
area. Now, the windows are also, they block by a fence, first of all, and second of all,
they, okay, and this is the neighboring property. There's the windows, the one upper window has a
window unit in it. The lower window, which has a fence, also has an air conditioner condenser
next to it so there's already um considerable noise uh being generated uh next to the windows
so any window any noise that you might get from the um um restaurant would be would be nominal
restaurant would be would be nominal and this is looking back this is the area
And this is, looking back, this is the area far
farthest from the outdoor seating area so i have some additional photos just
whoops going on right sorry mr madione that property you just referenced is that an apartment
building or is that a condo yeah i i don't know it's well yeah it's an apartment building i don't
know how many units are in it okay three or four this is this is a single family home on sarah
street to the other side but this is showing the area that we're talking about where that building
is. I think it's three or four units. It's got a window here, window here, but this is
where the outdoor restaurant area would be. So it's at least 10 to 12 feet from where
those windows are. And as you can see, Mr. Chairman, there's a fence there as well. So
when you're standing in the backyard, all you really hear is I -95. It's right there.
So again, we believe that we meet the standard for variance because, excuse me, everything
that's around it and everything that's near it especially and you know the other way to meet it
is to show a change in conditions and we believe we've had that in the last three years as well
so this is the minimum variance necessary to succeed the grant will increase greater the
variance is in harmony with the spirit of the zoning code i mean the restaurant uses
is now permitted for three years the restaurant won't injure neighboring properties if anything
they'll benefit by having more eyes and ears back here they'll benefit by having a great amenity
in the community, allow it to expand and survive and thrive.
It won't cause any environmental damage.
There's no new construction proposed in the minor groundwork, landscaping work.
In addition to the change in circumstances, the two new restaurants for the outdoor seating
and the continuing challenges posed by the pandemic.
And we believe that this all rises to either the level of a variance being met
or a change in conditions that justify the grant.
I do have three witnesses, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to call because I don't know if somebody will try and take an appeal again this time.
So I'd like to first move on to Jonathan Torrey.
Mr. Torrey, please identify yourself with the record, spell your full name, and I'll swear you'll win.
My name is Jonathan Torrey, last name T -O -R -I.
I am with Addison Real Estate, located at 266 South 23rd Street.
You swear to affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Thank you, Mr. Mariani. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And John, are you a real estate broker,
investor, developer, manager of properties, and also a builder? Yes, all of the above. I've been
doing that for close to 30 years. And have you visited Elwood Restaurant? I have on several
occasions. And is this area zone of RSA 5 where it is? Yes, it is. It is an RSA 5 neighborhood.
and you've seen the area is this area appropriate for an rsa5 zoning for a single family house
i would say it's not conducive to single family residential use at all um for several reasons
there are billboards uh joining the ellwood restaurant there's also an open air parking
lot across the street the noise and the traffic from frankfort avenue is very dense um in addition
to that, there is also I -95, which is a constant noise 24 -7, not to mention the auto body use
around the corner. You could actually probably even hear some residual use from the Fillmore
when they have events in the area. And are there any single -family homes on the 1 ,000 block of
Frankfort Avenue? No, there's not. There's only multifamily, which is an unconforming use.
And as a real estate professional, what use do you believe is appropriate for the Elwood space?
I believe that this restaurant is a perfect use for this block and also any particular type of retail of this nature.
And as a real estate professional, is the outdoor space proposed necessary for Elwood to succeed as a restaurant?
Absolutely, especially in this day and age of the COVID crisis that we're having with restaurants dropping left and right.
I believe it's vital that they obtain this particular outdoor seating in order to survive, especially if a restaurant of this size.
And in your visits, did you notice adjoining multifamily residences?
I did. I noticed the one to the east. I believe it's 1001 to 1005 Frankfurt Avenue.
Did you notice the windows behind the structure?
I did. It's approximately probably maybe less than 15 feet of exposure to the area that they're proposing to have this outdoor seating.
I noticed at least one of the windows had an AC unit in it. There is condensers in that breezeway.
There's also an outdoor staircase that borders the yard of the proposed seating, which is also in between that particular property and the Ellwood restaurant.
And as a real estate investor, what impact is there of an outdoor seating area for a
for a neighborhood restaurant, all the multifamily residential structure that borders on it?
neighborhood restaurant, all the multifamily residential structure that borders on it?
I don't particularly see anything. I feel like it's an amenity to the building. I believe that
people in the building would probably would like to have use of this particular space in that
restaurant. I don't see any negative effects either from the single family side of it in the
rear of the property. It's really, there's two party walls bordering it. I don't believe if this
was a single -family house that you would get any more residual noise or much from any of this area
more than just people using that area naturally as a single -family residence.
And in your opinion, is there any possible negative impact that the out there seating
area could cause? I do not see any negative impact, especially in this area with all the
residual noise and other uses that surround this property as being negative in any way,
shape or form. And finally, are your opinions expressed today based upon a reasonable degree
of professional certainty? Yes, they are. I have no further questions for Mr. Torrey, Mr. Chairman.
Any questions for Mr. Torrey from the board? No, no, Mr. Chair. No.
Mr. Marcioni, proceed. I'd like to call Dr. Jonathan Deutsch.
Mr. Deutsch, please spell your full name. I'll swear you in.
Jonathan Deutsch, J -O -N -A -T -H -A -N -D -E -U -T -S -C -H. I'm at Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Deutsch, is your CV? It's on the screen. Is it reasonably accurate in terms of your background?
Yes. And are you a restaurant industry expert? Yes I am. And are you familiar with Elwood
Restaurant? Yes I've dined there on multiple occasions. And are you aware that in 2008
its permit has a condition prohibiting outdoor dining? I am actually I um when I ate there for
The first time I saw the garden and said, oh, this would be great for outdoor dining.
And at that time I was informed that it wasn't allowed due to the zoning.
And are there changed conditions since 2018 to make this condition unreasonable?
Definitely the COVID pandemic had huge impacts.
You may remember that many dining rooms were closed even when outdoor dining was permitted.
earlier in the pandemic. And even now, our research indicates that many guests feel
uncomfortable doing any indoor dining and are looking exclusively for outdoor dining options.
In addition to that, are there new restaurants that have opened nearby that have outdoor seating?
Yeah, there are two new restaurants that you pointed out earlier that are just a block away.
both have outdoor seating Vince's Pizza and Fabrica and in that neighborhood more broadly
there are multiple options including including Barcade and others that have extensive outdoor
seating I just have a map briefly just to show that Vince's Pizza is here right here this is
The little thing here is where Elwood's located. Here's Fabrica. Here's Barcade. Here's the Fillmore, just to give some more context.
And what impact does the pandemic have on Elwood?
I think even under optimal conditions, you know, pre -pandemic, you know, good reviews, everything going right.
It's very challenging to run a small BYOB profitably, even under the best of circumstances.
And what we've had over the past 18 months is really the worst of circumstances.
So it's, frankly, a real testament to Adam and Jenny and their team that they're even here to have this conversation, given the challenges of the pandemic.
and and many restaurants uh did not survive uh through this time is there any other area
at the elwood restaurant location where you could possibly have out there seeming could you have it
in front of it i don't see that being feasible um for two reasons one is the sidewalk is very narrow
um so it would disrupt um pedestrian um flow um the other is uh as you can see from the from the
photos it's not a very scenic you know front looking into the restaurant is gorgeous that
beautiful door but looking out in front of the in front of the area you're
but looking out in front of the um in front of the area you're facing a parking lot and i -95
um i don't really see it uh being feasible right and you know other than uh the i guess so the
only area that that you could have uh outdoor seating is in the out in the rear area where
we proposed it correct yeah that's the only um area i can envision it right um are the
Opinions you've expressed today based upon a reasonable degree of professional certainty?
I have no further questions for the witness, Mr. Chairman.
Any questions for this witness from the board?
No, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Marlione, do you have any other witnesses?
Just Adam Diltz, the owner.
I wanted to have him testify.
Thank you.
He's coming in now.
Thank you.
Hello?
Oh, I see.
Adam, please spell your full name.
A -D -A -M -D -I -L -T -Z.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Thank you, Mr. Maglioni.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Adam, you heard my statements today.
Did you hear my statements today?
Yeah, yeah, I've been here the whole time.
I don't know what just happened, but yeah.
And are the statements I made true and correct?
Yes, sir.
And do you adopt them as your testimony?
Yes, I do.
I have no further questions from Mr. Diltz, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I do have a couple of questions.
Mr. Mariani, you said there'll be 18 seats?
Outside.
Outside.
Outside would be 18 seats, and the hours of operation are 430 to 10?
Yes, that's what they've been.
Five to 10.
Five to 10.
Mr. Diltz can answer that better than I can, Mr. Chairman.
I'm sorry?
Mr. Diltz can answer the hours of operation question better than I.
Mr. Diltz, what are your hours of operation?
My hours is Thursday through Sunday, 5 to 10.
And then I do a T service on the weekend, Saturday and Sundays, 11 to 2 .30.
Questions from the board?
No, sir.
Thank you.
Anyone else like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
there we have jenny jenny you cannot mute yourself
sorry hi can you hear me yes please spell your full name sure it's jenny j -e -n -n -y k -o
you swear from the tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes and your address ma 'am it is uh 1241 east oxford street i am uh adam's wife
oh okay
are you supporting this application
yes I am supporting
husband and wives don't always agree
oh gosh
all right thank you
anyone else
to testify in this case
planning commission
yes chair I'm sorry
oh I'm sorry
you have someone else
They can unmute themselves.
Anyone else who's testifying, please unmute yourself.
Hi, can you hear me?
Yes, your name, sir?
My name is Ravi Byanker.
Please spell by it.
First name Ravi, R -A -V like victory, I.
Last name Byanker, B as in boy, A -Y -A -N as in Nancy, K -E -R.
Your address?
My home address is 1416 Frankfurt Avenue.
You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Make sure of your call.
My business address is 951 Frankfurt Avenue.
It's like a block away from Elwood.
I totally support my business neighbor having this outdoor seating.
I think it's great for our end of Frankfurt Avenue.
I would love them to have outdoor seating.
it's good for our corridor i'm also a board member of the fish town kensington area business
improvement district and i think it's great so i fully support it thanks thank you
it's great so i fully support it thanks thank you you got a wife and a competitor supporting you
all right um anyone else no more hands chair thank you planning commission
um good afternoon board good afternoon chair and members of the board this is greg waldman
Planning Commission staff. This parcel was rezoned from medium industrial to single family
residential in 2015 in accordance with recommendations from the comprehensive plan
and support from the community. The zoning board granted a variance in 2016 for a restaurant and
rear addition. The applicant is now seeking an expansion of a previously approved use
which would permit them to have outdoor dining. An expansion of the existing
resident resident restaurant would not alter the essential character of the frankfurt avenue corridor
which is primarily zoned commercial mixed use on the nearby blocks accordingly we recommend that
the requested variance be granted thank you mi 2021 -002 -015 -1007 frankfurt avenue my vote is yes
Harold Teneri, my vote is yes.
Confessor Plaza, my vote is yes.
Jane Snell, my vote is yes.
Number three on our list, MI 2021, that's 002, 021, 1400 South 33rd Street.
Brett Feldman is the attorney of record.
Tasker Morris, RCO, supports this application.
mr feldman good afternoon please identify yourself and i'll swear you in
sure good afternoon um brett feldman 1835 market street philadelphia pennsylvania 19103
i represent the property owner and uh the applicant uh ceo automotive
about your last name for the record feldman f -e -l -d -m -a -n you swear a firm to tell the
truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you. Ms. Canary has some questions for
you. Hi, Mr. Feldman. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
a copy of the refusal or referral, photos under plans of the property five days in advance of
this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter? Yes. Yes to all. Thank you.
may proceed can you can you see my screen now not just not yet but it's it's spiraling
should be my exhibit package now all we have is brett fellman has started screen sharing
okay let me uh yeah i've locked up here hold on let me
you can try um stop sharing and then share it again yep let me try do that
okay let's try let's try this one more time
okay can you see my screen now yes we do okay great i'll get right to it um again i represent
seota automotive um the board might remember this case we were actually in front of the zoning board
almost a year ago i'm going to go right to the pictures um super subaru dealership correct this
is a new Subaru dealership. It is almost complete. Subaru and Sioka has made a massive investment
in building a almost downtown, state -of -the -art dealership all enclosed. This is the location
site photos right off of 76 at between Reed and between Dickinson and 33rd and 34th Street here.
We came to the board. Here it is. You get off at university. You go right on to the dealership. This is the location of where it is. We were in front of the board about a year ago for accessory signs. I'll show you a rendering of, if you've been by there, it's a five -story building now that's been constructed.
uh it was it was a blighted industrial parcel before this is uh the rendering which um
This is the rendering, which it looks, if you've been by there, you know, the renderings, a lot of times they they're sexy and they don't turn out the way they look.
These this is what it looks like. Basically, it's tremendous what's out there.
We got all these accessory signs approved. They're above the second floor.
That's why we had to go to the zoning board.
The need for that was because obviously 76 is elevated, which is, you know, the primary for wayfinding to get to and from the location.
So we needed to have it a little bit higher because of, you know, we're 50 feet, 60 feet here.
We find Subaru took a last look at this before they kind of after after approval and said we need three of the signs increased from 18 to 31 square feet, 22 to 25 and 41 to 77 square feet.
So we're back here for the signs that were already approved by the Zoning Board, but the Zoning Board approved them.
So any approvals that change and make the signs slightly bigger need to come back to the Zoning Board.
We met with the Tasco Morris Neighbors Association. They have a letter of support at Exhibit Tab 10.
They've been tremendously supportive throughout this project.
We're bringing literally hundreds of jobs to this location, hiring in the neighborhood.
and these you know it's basically these signs here just get slightly just get slightly bigger
one goes from 22 to 25 as I said and that that's really you know the the application
wayfinding Subaru thought was important so folks could get off at the exit here that they were a
little bit bigger they also changed their national size branding so that's that that's why we're you
know, we now went through this whole approval process to make signs four or five, ten square
feet bigger than previously. I can go through more details if you'd like. Not to interrupt you,
but I think the board is, correct me if any board member disagrees, I think we're familiar with
this application, and it's really just about increasing the size of the signage. Very slight,
yes. I have Paul Frank, who is director of special projects for Sioka, if he could be promoted,
and if I could just have him adopt my testimony.
Yes, can he raise his hand, please?
Paul, are you on the line?
Can you raise your hand?
Paul Frank Sioka.
He's available.
Hello?
Hi, good afternoon.
Please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
hi my name is paul
lost you paul
i paul if you're not there again yeah i'm here okay name is my name is paul frank p -a -u -l -f -r -a -n -k
seven five zero southwest and boulevard quakertown pennsylvania one eight nine five one
Do you swear if I'm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. Feldman.
Yes, just briefly, Mr. Frank, I believe your title is Director of Special Projects for
Sioka, and you have been the driving force for the last, what, three years to make this
project, this many -million -dollar project a reality, correct?
That's correct.
And you've heard my testimony concerning the need to slightly increase the size of
of the signs at the request of Subaru for wayfinding
and for branding purposes, correct?
Three of the signs, yes, correct.
And do you adopt my testimony as true and accurate
and as your own?
Thank you.
I have no further questions for Mr. Frank.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chair.
Anyone else would like to testify in this case,
please raise your hand.
No hands chair.
Thank you. Planning commission.
Good afternoon, chair and members of the board.
My name is Greg Waldman, planning commission staff.
We had previously made a recommendation
for the prior submission on September 16th, 2020.
uh not objecting to the granting the variance for the rooftop sign
and the proposed signage but not supporting that the the large sign um abutting the
and the proposed signage, but not supporting the large sign abutting the access ramp.
So it doesn't appear that the conditions have changed the size for the sign
enlarging since that time. So accordingly, we request that the variance not be granted.
MI 2021 -002 -021, 1400 South 33rd Street.
My vote is yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Professor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
As always, thank you for your time and consideration.
Mr. Feldman, you talked to your client.
I think their name should be pronounced Chioka, as opposed to Sioka.
Goodbye.
Talk to you.
I will.
Thank you.
All right.
Number four on our list, MI 2021 -001 -977, 178 West Seymour Street.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney of record.
Faith, CDC coordinating RCO, sent a letter of support.
Solo Germantown RCO opposes this application. Ms. Pritzker, good afternoon. You're still under oath from this morning. Please identify yourself. And Ms. Tenere has some questions for you.
Rachel, R -A -C -H -A -E -L, Pritzker, P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R, 1635 Market Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.
Hi, Rachel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with your RCO, the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Thank you. You may proceed.
Thank you.
I'm going to share my screen.
this is Rachel while you're setting up I just have a quick question did you meet with both
RCOs so faith CDC is the coordinating RCO and then overlapping and you know like a affected RCO
is solo Germantown so were they present was solo present at the the coordinating RCO yes okay
And I believe Charles Richardson from the councilman's office is on as well. He was at that meeting. I was, my colleague was. So if there's any questions about that, he would be, I'm sure, happy to answer.
Thank you.
So this is 178 West Seymour.
This is a proposal to erect a semi -detached structure with six dwelling units.
We're actually providing revised plans for only four dwelling units, which is why FATE CDC provided a letter of support.
We agreed to remove two units, do four units, including one ADA unit.
This is a 1 ,700 -square -foot vacant lot, according to OPA.
and this is on a block where 50 percent of the lots on the property side of the street so four
out of the eight are currently vacant the property generated two refusals first is because at rsa
five you cannot have more than a single family uh residential use and we're proposing uh originally
six but now four dwelling units and the second refusal um is the rsa require if if use requires
a side yard to be at least five feet wide however we're proposing a three foot side yard um in order
to be more in context with the properties on the block and to provide a little bit wider of a
structure. The other thing worth noting is that there's a significant amount of multifamily on
this block and the adjacent blocks, as I mentioned, there was a lot of vacancy. Four out of the eight
properties are currently vacant, but they're at 168 is the dwelling unit and a tailor shop. 172
is two units 173 is two units 174 is three units in an office 175 is two units 176 is three units
183 is three units an additional unit from community living of up to i think it's one
unrelated individual uh three unrelated individuals um this also uh project took into consideration
the city's comprehensive plan um this project is in the upper northwest district plan and uh
In page 27 and 26, this is involved with the core growth area in the 2035 plan, which proposes for more dense multifamily housing near commercial.
um proposes uh for more uh dense multi -family housing near commercial corridors this is a
stone's throw from wayne avenue so we do believe that this is within the spirit of the 2035
comprehensive plan which will allow individuals to help support any of the amenities and the
redevelopment of wayne avenue and so according to the district it's also location for multi -family
in addition to the existing context with other multi -family and i have a copy of that plan here
so the board can see. And in the packet, you know, sort of the idea to do some infill and to help
support in the core growth area, Wayne Avenue and other commercial corridors. I just want to quickly
go to the RCO letter. As the board can see, this is the property here. It's a pretty large RSA 5
property. Again, it's around 1 ,700 square feet, and it's directly adjacent to a lot of CMX two and a
half. Again, a stone's throw from Wayne Avenue, so not out of character. As you can see, Wayne
Avenue is right here not out of character to have multifamily close to other commercial mixed use
to help support Wayne Avenue and commercial corridors. This is an aerial view as you can
see it's a large lot it's been vacant for I think many decades at this point. I don't it was I guess
it's been at least five years the prior house was declared imminently dangerous and so this has
been vacant since since then. This is the posting with the notice and the refusal.
And then I just want to bring up the RCO's letter.
We met with Faith CDC, I believe it was September 9th.
And in their letter, basically they said they are in support of the variants because of the applicant being willing to make changes to design, lowering the number of units.
And, you know, the meeting only had 11 participants, including two near neighbors who voted against it, but with no clear reason why they were opposing the application.
one of the near neighbors voted no because he wanted to know what the developer was going to do
with the parking lot next to the property which he'd been parking his business vehicles in for
many years and had wanted to I guess purchase the property at some point so again we're willing to
reduce the project from six down to four the reason we're not going all the way down to three
is because there was specifically a request for an ADA unit so we thought that four was reasonable
and a reduction of two was satisfactory to the RCO as evidenced in their letter.
Other than that, I want to have Scott Woodruff on.
I believe it's either him or Jimmy Hare from Design Blends Architecture
that can go through the plans and then happy to take any questions.
Excuse me, this is Sharon. Can I interrupt one minute?
Ms. Pritzker, the plans you've submitted are the only change that's listed on the form
is the reduction in the number of units. Is that correct?
Yes, that is correct.
so there are no exterior changes correct so it could be done a proviso if that was easier for
the board that would seem so since the plans that you submitted i believe don't even include floor
plans if everything on the exterior is the same okay thank you yep and one of the four units is
J -A -D -A, correct?
Correct.
Correct.
Do you see our architect?
There's Scott Woodruff or?
James.
James Hare.
Great.
Thank you.
Please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
James Hare, J -A -M -E -S, Hare, H -A -R -R -E.
we're a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth i do thank you miss
pritzker uh yeah james if you could share your screen and just go through the plans for the board
yeah sure
he's coming back in now as a panelist thank you
can everyone see my screen sorry about that yes great um so as rachel said the project's at 178
west seymour and this is our project right here um just looking at this facade um and this fender
During the street view, you can see there's two entrances to the building.
This upper entrance was included for the units on the second and third floor, and was raised
to kind of help keep with the context of the other raised floors, entrances of the adjacent
properties.
And the entrance on the left is the ADA accessible entrance, which we are leaving as requested
is the ADA accessible entrance, which we are leaving as requested by the RCO and would have
been required per IVC down the line should this be approved. So that is the reason we have two
entrances here. You can see along the left -hand side of our property is our side yard, which
runs up against the side yard of 176 West Seymour and leads to the trash enclosure in the rear of
property which is accessible to all residents in the building all tenants in the building
walking through the floor plans as i said prior there's two entrances to the building this left
entrance right here enters into the accessible unit living space kitchen and two bedroom two
bathroom unit in the rear this rear bedroom you can see is a step there that's raised
primarily because the grade raised in the rear in order to help keep those windows high enough
to provide lights that back bedroom that can also be replaced with a ramp if needed
for a future tenant a secondary living space is also provided in the basement for this unit as
well going in on the right hand side the raised entrance stairway up to this second floor both
these units are one bed one bath units living spaces kitchens in unit laundry and mechanicals
and if we on the left here you can see another door to the fourth third floor unit the fourth
unit going up to another two bedroom two bath unit here um primary living and kitchen in the
front two bedroom two bath in the rear and unit laundry and cannibals as well and again
Then our front facade here, the front facade was kept in context of the adjacent properties
as much as we possibly could while still providing the ADA accessible unit.
We made sure to keep the bay protrusion to the second floor only as the other properties
are as you can see in the rendering on the front page.
And then the series of windows to provide some extra light for those units along the
side of the yard as well.
thanks james um i don't have anything further um questions from okay questions from the board
no no thank you uh anything else rachel you have anyone else no no okay would anyone else
like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand yes chair we have mr charles richardson
good afternoon mr richardson identify yourself and i'll swear you in
good afternoon mr chair charles richardson from the office of councilwoman cindy bass room 312
city hall uh you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing about the truth
i do thank you sir please proceed okay uh this meeting um had a little contention going on um
With regard to the participants and the two RCOs that were involved, there were only two near neighbors present.
And as was indicated in the RCO letter, one of the near neighbors is a business owner on Wayne Avenue who really did not give any reason as to why, other than that he didn't know how it was going to affect him.
It was later revealed that it was more of a thing having to do with concerns of losing access to the lots that had been used for parking over the years.
Another near neighbor had actually dropped from the call and came and was called by the chair of one of the other RCO to come back on to vote no.
So, you know, it was just an interesting type of meeting.
So, you know, the councilwoman at this point is, you know, you've got one RCO that is supportive.
You've got one that is opposing.
She is going to go non -opposition on this and we'll go from there.
Okay, thank you.
Anyone else to testify in this case?
Yes, Chair.
I have a caller ended in 1232.
Do I call her, identify him or herself?
Good afternoon.
Hi, please give us your full name and spell it.
Pamela, P -A -M -E -L -A, Bracey, B as in boy, R -A -C -E -Y.
We're infirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Please proceed.
I am a member of Solo Germantown Civic Association.
I am a member of SOLO Germantown Civic Association, and I was at the meeting this past few days.
We have a feeling that we would like to have this house as a one -family property,
and we spoke about the fact that we are just one block away from Fittler Academic Plus School,
and we thought that that would be a great place for a family to move to we are aware of the houses
on the block some of them being um multi -families but still if this was going to be a new property
then this could bring a new family into the community so that is how i feel pertaining to
that i would like to see for it to be a single family residence i'm happy that they said they
want to change something. Thank you ma 'am. Anyone else? No more hands here. Thank you. Planning
Commission? Good afternoon Chair and members of the board. My name is Greg Waldman, Planning
Commission staff. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single
family residential zoning at this location all six units would exceed a minimum variance the revised
plans for four units would not alter the essential character of the block accordingly we recommend
the granting of the variance proviso for certified revised plans thank you um mi 2021 -001977
178 West Seymour
was there a one page of revised
plan? Chairman we're just going to
do it as proviso
and if I could just as a member
of the court have my client
agree to my testimony
oh I'm sorry sure
your client's name? Nadal Hassan
may you raise your hand
if you're in the audience
nidal please spell your first and last name yeah it's uh nidal hassan n -i -d -a -l
last name hassan h -a -s -s -e -n you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth? Yes, sir. Thank you. Please proceed. Nadal, have you heard my testimony today? Do you agree
that is true and accurate and do you adopt it as your own? Yes. Thank you. MI 2021 -001 -977 -178
West Seymour Street. My vote is yes with the proviso. Maximum four units. One of the units
to be dedicated as an ADA.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
Professor Plaza, yes with proviso.
James Snell, yes with proviso.
Ms. Pritzker, you're up next.
MI 2021 -002012, 3921 Mount Vernon Street.
Mantua Civic supports this application.
yeah so this is um so i'll say my name again rachel pritzker r -a -c -h -a -e -l pritzker p -r -i -t -z -k -e -r
1635 market street suite 1600 philadelphia pa one i'm you're still under oath ms tenere has
questions for you do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
yes have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance refusal or
referral photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met
with the rco do you have a letter you're flipping around on the screen that's why i'm laughing
so i apologize you may proceed
okay um this is 3921 mount vernon street um this property is a long -standing vacant lot
that is zoned RSA 5 and the proposal is for the erection of an attached building with a roof deck
roof deck access structure for use as a two -family dwelling. The property is 1 ,100 square feet
according to OPA. We're looking to provide two units and the only reason for refusal is that
more than one residential unit is not permitted in RSA 5. We do believe that this also aligns
the comprehensive plan as there is the lowest amount of vacancy in west philadelphia not far
from this property um the code uh and the um sorry not the code the 2035 comprehensive plan
uh talks a lot about redeveloping vacant lots to bring
new housing and more affordable housing to the neighborhood we are providing these as two
new housing and more affordable housing to the neighborhood we are providing these as two
homeownership units which was something that the community was very excited about as a lot of the
members in the rco meeting had mentioned that the reason that they were able to get into homeownership
was because they purchased a duplex bought one and uh house hacked the other so uh we met with um
the mantua civic association um a few months ago and we do have a letter
um sorry i'm sorry i was dictating a text message okay um just so the board can see
it's on rsa5 however it's very almost directly adjacent to rm1 um so uh multifamily is not out
of character we're not trying to overuse the lot by putting you know 5 10 15 units just two units
in order to provide more homeownership and as the board can clearly see from the aerial pictures
the significant amount of vacancy on this block just adding to the need for more affordable
housing and the fact that if single -family homes could have been built here they probably would
have over the last couple of decades. This is across the street here's the posting the notices
back to the good old orange poster days and I just I believe we have Rachel
on from who's our architect just to go through the plans but we did meet with the RCO on the 28th
of June and bring up on the screen we had almost unanimous support five support to abstain or
non -opposition and to oppose so really a seven to two in support or at least in non -opposition of
the case and with that I will leave it to Rachel May who I believe just raised her hand so she
could go over the architectural plans for the project. Good afternoon Miss May please spell
your full name and I'll swear you in. And they're coming in now as a panelist.
this way you can unmute yourself hi miss may please spell your full name
miss may
rachel are you able to unmute yourself uh can you hear me yes please spell your full name
hello sorry about it it's rachel may r -a -c -h -e -l -m -a -y
we're not firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do thanks rachel if you could just go through the plans um briefly for the board
that would be appreciated okay this is only two units in our safe life zoning area this is the
first floor which has only one bedroom and one bathroom the basement will be mechanical for
mechanical use or the recreation area and you're you can go through with the stairs on the second
floor to second unit it has only one bedroom with bathroom on the first floor with kitchen
and living room and the third floor will be two bathrooms two bathrooms also there is a roof
access roof deck access only from the second unit and first unit will have rear yard access
this is our variation it's going to be typical for the house with a baby window one second
on third floor with a brick front and this is the other elevations for the rear and the
side this is a really big lot it has 1105 square feet but we are using only 690 square feet which
is 63 percent and they have rear yard and also the front yard because of the adjacent building
and they can use their front yard for the trash area and also the
they have rear yard for the treasury uh if you have any question please thank you let me know
questions from the board no i'm okay
uh anyone else would like to tell i'm sorry rachel do you have to get your uh client on
yes please thank you um barack
Oh, Rachel. Hi, I'm Brock. Sir, please spell your first and last name. Mr. Ack?
Oh Rachel, hi I'm Rack, Sartaj is on the bridge.
Hello, Chair.
Spell your first and last name.
I'm Brock. B -U -R -A -K. A -K -B -U -L -A -K.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you, Mr. Pritzker.
Brock have you heard my testimony today can you attest to it being true and accurate and do you adopt it as your own?
Yes Rachel, thank you.
Thank you. Any questions from the board?
Anyone else would like to testify in this case? If so, please raise your hand.
Yes Chair, we have Mr. Goodman. Mr. Goodman, you can unmute yourself.
Mr. Goodman, please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Good afternoon. Andrew Goodman, G -O -O -D -M -A -N, here representing the Office of Third District
Council Member Jamie Gaudier.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Our office has no opposition to the requested
variance at this address this afternoon.
Thank you. Anyone else to testify?
No more hands, Chair.
Thank you, Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the Board.
This parcel was Greg Waldman,
City Planning Commission staff.
This parcel was rezoned from residential multifamily
to single family residential in 2017
in accordance with recommendations from the comprehensive plan
and with support from the community.
There are no unique physical circumstances
or conditions peculiar to the vacant lot that would require relief from the code.
Accordingly, we recommend that the requested variance not be granted.
Thank you. MI 2021 -001 -977 -178 West Seymour Street. My vote is yes.
well i got the wrong my mistake my mistake i saw your name next to it i apologize okay
mi 2021 -002 -012 -3921 mount vernon street my vote is yes
carol tenere my vote is yes professor plaza my vote is yes james now my vote is yes
thank you before i read the next case i just want to remind the court reporter if you need a break
let us know we have four or five more cases left in this call thank you chair thank you mi 2021
that's zero zero one nine seven five five three four six vine street the attorney is mr knockinson
hmc squared rco supports with provisos
good afternoon chairman hi good afternoon please well you uh you're on the oath from earlier
correct wait you know oh yeah okay sorry no worries just identify yourself and then carol
I ask you some questions. Of course. Clemente Amazon, C -L -E -M -E -N -T -A, 123 South Broad Street,
Suite 1600, 19109. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? Yes, I do. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
refusal or referral photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes in all respects thank you you may
proceed. Of course, may I share my screen? Can everyone see my screen?
yes let me just put this in the screen mode so it's a bit better it's easier to see
so good afternoon board i am presenting 5436 fine street
and as you will see in my pack of materials i have vd certificate of tax clearance notice of
refusal application for appeal a map of the area as well as photographs of the property and the
application for appeal, a map of the area, as well as photographs of the property and the surrounding area, our proposed plans and drawings, and as was mentioned earlier, we do have a letter of support for HMC Squared Community Association.
surrounding area.
So here we have the de -cham that my client does in fact own the property.
You're stuck on the original screen.
Oh, let me just stop sharing and try this again then.
i apologize
no worries
okay can you see my screen now yes we have the tax clearance i believe perfect
so as you can see we have a clear tax balance nothing is called for this particular property
The notice of refusal, which is why we're here today. The property is currently zoned as single family, and we have a refusal for the use. We are requesting to have eight units, as well as the open area and the required side yard width, which I will go through for the proposed plans and drawings.
Here we have the application for appeal, project information form, zoning map of the area.
As you can see, we are right here and we are surrounded by multifamily use.
Here's a view of the front of the property on Vine Street, a view to the right of the property
on Vine Street, a view to the left of the property on Vine Street. And as I mentioned,
there is a history or there are multifamily properties along the street. So several other
properties in the area that are also multifamily so here we have our elevations and site plan
and as you can see here we do have a basement we wanted to make sure that we had a responsible
development and design here so we made sure to include storage for all of the units in the
basement including bicycle storage as well as a designated trash area we also have a rear yard
that also has an exterior trash area that is accessible to all units so you can walk in from
the front go down this hallway and there's a door in the rear to get access to that rear yard
and just the floor plans for each unit we are divvying this property up in half so four in
the front and then four in the rear as was mentioned earlier we do have a letter of support
from hmc squared community association
and we did meet with the community on may 13th at 6 30 pm this is the notice that
we did send out of that meeting and 78 properties were notified in total and we have these
certificates of mailing so with that if i could have my client frank kumas raise his hand so that
he can result my testimony excuse me this is sharon if i can interrupt for one minute mr
goodman had to leave but he asked me to relay that um councilman gothier is in non -opposition
thank you um before that uh you're asking your client to get on miss amazon yes i was um his
name is frank kumas and while we're waiting for him could you bring up the proviso list again
there are no provisos for this project oh i thought my notes say there were
sharon do you have provisos
the c letter excuse me i'll have to i'm sure i have it right here give me one moment
sure while we're waiting give miss amazon get your client his name frank humus
hey frank how you doing this is frank humus here please spell your last name k -u -m -a -s
you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Yes, I do.
Frank, did you hear my presentation today?
Yes, I have.
And is it true and correct?
Yes, true and correct.
And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Excuse me, Mr. Sharon.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
According to the letter, the HMC Squared wrote that the owner's representative agreed to
abide by the following provisos clearly visible signage to be posted with instructions to contact
kumos homes with any issues second trash will not be stored in the basement the owner will
ensure that there is an adequately sized area for trash in the rear of the building
i mean you identified two areas of one inside and one out so that's covered
All right. Anyone else have any questions?
No, sir.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the Board.
This is Greg Baldwin, Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single family residential zoning at this location.
The proposed eight dwelling units on this vacant lot is adjacent to existing multifamily on a block with a mix of existing single and multifamily units.
accordingly we recommend that the robust variance be granted thank you MI 2021 -001 -975 -5346
Vine Street my vote is yes Carol Tenere my vote is yes Professor Plaza my vote is yes
james smell my vote is yes you number 10 on my our list mi 2021 -002 -014 -5338 lena lea excuse me
lena street rachel pritzker is the attorney of record faith cdc rco is the coordinating rco they
sent a letter of opposition as did solo germantown and bayton b -a -y -n -t -o -n hill
neighbors association all three rcos oppose this project
ms pritzker identify yourself and you're still under
listen i don't know what we mr comas mr comas you're slow have your your you've got a hot mic
miss pritzker yes please identify yourself you're still on the roof yep rachel r -a -c -h -a -e -l
pritzker p -r -i -t -z -k -e -r 1635 market street street 1600 philadelphia pa 19103
hi rachel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
yes have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance
refusal referral photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the rco and do you have letters yes okay you may proceed i'm going to
share my screen. This is 5338 Lena Street. This application is just for the legalization of an
existing duplex. There's currently a tenant in the top unit and that is a PHA Section 8 tenant
and then there is no tenant on the ground floor. I will go through the photos. Essentially this
property has been built out as a duplex since well before my client owned the property.
We inherited the tenant as well with the property and are just working through the process in order
to get new rental licenses. And we're not able to because we don't have a CO, which we realized,
and we need to go through the zoning process in order to get a CO and we need to have the
property zoned correctly. As the board can see, it's a pretty large size lot, zoned for single
family. However, it's an existing duplex, and there's many other duplexes on the street. This
is the front of the property. A lot of concerns that were raised in the community meeting related
to putting mailboxes inside the building, having trash located in the rear yard, affordability,
which obviously we have, and had concerns about just the general neighborhood,
putting planter boxes in the front, street trees, things of that nature.
I'm going to show the inside of the building as well.
So this is unit one.
You walk in.
As you can see, it's already built out as a duplex.
This is not new construction.
We're not doing any renovations to it.
And it's being lived in currently now by a Section 8 runner.
This is unit two.
is the top unit
just a bunch of things kitchen and there's obviously two kitchens multiple bathrooms
separate stairways or one stairway for access
um we met with um faith community development corporation which was the coordinating rco
I'm just going to bring up their letter. I think that there were like two people at the meeting.
Most of the opposition came from solo Germantown and the three.
um solo germantown um and the three near neighbors voted no but i don't have any information as to
where they lived and one abstained so basically um we would be making a decision based on two people
um and i'm not sure as far as near neighbors where exactly they live it's not provided in the letter
um as you can see a lot of the concerns were based around um they said the community voted
no on this but there are many provisos discussed so most of the meeting was discussing front facade
improvements handrails in the front step maintaining flower planters in the front
mailboxes moved off the front porch to inside the building directional motion detecting security
lights recycle storage removed from the front be placed outside on trash day and taken in the same
day clean and clear the backyard making it accessible to both tenants authorizing a planning
street trees through the city, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, routine exterior maintenance
every two weeks. And the owner, Odin Properties, did agree to have their management company
look into putting garbage disposals in the units and washer and dryers, as that was sort of more
the conversation than the actual existing conditions and the hardship. Although they'll
say we didn't present a hardship. I think Bainton Hills said that. Clearly, the hardship is that
it's been built out as a duplex for a significant amount of years, as you can see from the photos.
In order to comply with the zoning code, we'd have to evict the tenant during a pandemic in
an affordable unit, remove them, renovate the entire building, and put it on the market for
somebody who is not that tenant and perhaps may not be at an affordable price point as well.
I had, because there was such limited attendance and I didn't think it was fair to have RCO members who don't live there vote in opposition of a case, I had the client go out and doorknock and I had submitted to the board letters of support from people who actually live on that block.
5320 Lena Street, 5313 Lena Street, 5332 Lena Street, and 5336. And we ran out of papers. So
there were some additional signatures, Robin Davis or Rollins Davis, 5339. I don't even want
to try to botch that name, Mr. or Ms. Minchin, Minchury, 5353 Lena Street, and the board can
see and it's in the packet the rest of these so uh maybe about 10 people seven to 10 people
that actually live on the block were were in support of the project i just want to make
mention also that although solo germantown and banton hills uh sent letters they were not
according rco um they were affected rcos and again a lot of the concerns did not have to do
uh with the um actual duplex and we had agreed to most of them we were happy to have
trash on the property we were happy to put flower boxes and a street tree if approved by the city
and we said we would look into some of the other considerations like garbage disposals
security lighting and cleaning the backyard so again if the board votes no on this we would
have to kick the tenant out and redo the entire building are all of those homes section eight
um both units would be for section eight only the top one is rented currently um because we
don't have legal we can't legally rent out the bottom one at the moment
client to adopt your testimony yeah i believe phil balderston should be on the call
yes he can unmute herself good afternoon sir please identify yourself spell your full name
Philip Balderston, P -H -I -L -I -P, Balderston, B -A -L -D -E -R -S -T -O -N.
Do you swear, affirm, to tell the truth, the whole truth?
Do you swear, affirm, to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Ms. Pritzker.
Thanks, Phil.
Have you heard my testimony today?
Do you believe it to be true and accurate, and would you adopt it as your own?
Yes, I would.
Thank you.
And can you just confirm that we did agree to certain provisos, like the trash, planter boxes, but that since you were also at the meeting, that most of the conversation was not related to the duplex, but were things sort of outside of zoning?
Confirmed. Yes, I was at the meeting and the majority of the discussion was about various aspects of the property, including the landscaping and how to deal with the tenant's trash as it currently exists.
And so that's why we entered those provisos and certainly we will apply those if they're adopted.
thank you any questions from the board no would anyone else like to testify in this case
Thanks. Thank you. Any questions from the board?
please raise your hand
no more hands at this time chair
we have
we have Joseph
McCarthy
Mr. McCarthy please identify yourself
spell your last name
Mr. McCarthy
while we're waiting for mr mccarthy planning commission
good afternoon chair and members of the board my name is greg baldwin planning commission staff
in 2001 the zoning map was amended from residential multifamily to single family
residential at this location the applicant seeks to legalize a conversion to two dwelling units
the applicant has demonstrated a hardship with bringing with regard to bringing the
pre -existing building in accordance with the code accordingly we recommend that the requested
variance be granted thank you mi 2021 -002 -014 -5338 lena street or lena street my vote is yes
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Professor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Snow, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
We go to case number 12, MI 2021 -002166, 6211 Woodbine Avenue.
Michael Marrione is the attorney of record.
Overbrook Farms, RCO, sent a letter of support.
Good afternoon, Mr. Marcioni. Please identify yourself with the record. You're still under oath.
Thank you. Good afternoon again, Mr. Chairman. Michael Marcioni, Federal Reserve Bank Building,
100 North Independence Mall, Suite 5A Northwest, Philadelphia, 19106.
and every
Do you agree to
waive the reading of the refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required
documents, proof of ownership
tax compliance, refusal
referral, photos under
plans of the property five days in advance
of this hearing and have you met with the
RCO and do you have a letter?
yes to everything. Thank you. You may proceed. Thank you. I think I'm in the clouds. I feel
like I'm in the clouds looking out here. Oh, gosh. All right. And I have also with me,
I represent Woodbine Street Partners, LLC. They're the owner of the property and hopefully
the developer. And I have Gary Farrell and Sean Pincus, principals of the owner, also on the line
today and i have up on the screen exhibits including the tax clearance the refusal and
we're requesting variances to allow 14 residential units where 12 are permitted and for having no
commercial uses in this cmx 2 .5 zoning district we have the site plan floor plans renderings
photographs support letter from the overbook farms club the coordinating rco and also a
community benefits agreement that we've entered into
with the Overbrook Farms Club, RCL.
And the applicants did receive initially a permit
for a 12 -unit structure with ground floor commercial space,
and they are seeking variances
to allow them to construct the building
without the commercial space
and to convert the commercial space
into two additional residential units.
The proposal does not change the exterior of the property,
which has been approved
because this is in the Overbrook Farm Historic District,
Neighborhood Conservation District,
Section 145046 of the Code.
They had to meet with and get approval
by the Planning Commission,
and after several meetings,
they were able to obtain approval of the Planning Commission and the approved plans are on the
screen and this is what was approved that's the daytime view with a nighttime view and the brick
with a nighttime view and the brick facade stops at this level because that's where the older
facade stops at this level because
properties the neighboring property is and then above that they had a different facade that's
what was recommended and that's what was agreed upon and what is there now it's a vacant lot right
now it had been a vacant building now it's a vacant lot it's been a vacant lot for a while
there's nothing you know there's nothing there this is a warehouse of some sort i heard it's
and next to it is the uh there's a driveway and then you have the train tracks and this is just
a weird driveway to get to the other properties it really doesn't go anywhere i have some photographs
yeah are there any single homes around there not right in this area this is a um an interesting
part of woodbine avenue as you can see there's the driveway i'm talking about that goes along
with it there's no parking in front of the property let me just show a few more photographs
so you can see the uh the context that's looking from across the street um
here is looking um from 63rd street towards the railroad bridge as you can see these are all
appear to be multi -family homes and they're all um they're also zoned cmx 2 .5 i believe
Are they rear garages or are they actually front of the front of the houses or they actually from they're actually the front, not garages.
OK, from here, it looks like garages in there. All right. Just run down. There you go, Mr.
I see additional photos. And that's the bridge. This is the properties right here on the side.
That's the bridge. There's an auto repair facility here. Actually, that's that little corner is on ICMX.
um and then if you go down let me just show a few more photos there's the auto repair facility this
is the property as you see there's no parking on woodbine avenue on the side where the property is
um that's directly across the street i don't know what that building is
i couldn't find anything saying what it is it had a sign that it was an auto repair
there might be some single family homes down the street there is an rsa 5 zone like five or six
house is in the middle of their RSA 5. The rest of it's CMX 2 .5, which is a multifamily
and commercial zoning. As you can see, you have multifamily structure there. Those are those
other properties. They all appeared to be multifamily when I went around and looked and
checked. Again, there's no parking in front of the property. Let's see. And this is up on 63rd
Street, which is a commercial corridor in that area. As you can see, there are commercial uses
This is up on 63rd Street.
Again, the kind of text up on 63rd Street.
So I also want to show,
zooming map.
So this is 63rd Street.
As you can see, it's all CMX 2 .5.
cmx 2 .5 at the icmx for the auto repair this is the train tracks this is that little driveway
this is the property so you have all commercial up on 63rd street but you don't have any commercial
down woodbine woodbines rsd3 which is single family that's on the other side of the train
tracks that's like a different world over there and um you have an i1 zone in there as well
but this little area it's multi -family as you can tell from across the street we're industrial
and some single -family and all commercial up on 63rd.
So we're out of the area where you have the commercial.
There's nowhere to park.
And that's why if you look at the RCO support letter,
they were pretty clear in that they supported it
and don't believe that you can have viable commercial use here.
We support the request for variance and concur with the applicant's assertion street -level commercial business might not succeed in the near or long -term in this location, which is physically removed from the main commercial corridor.
Although the traffic is unavoidable and unaddressable concern at this address, owing to its location and proximity to rail infrastructure and other properties, as is loading and unloading,
and we saw the presence of a commercial business on the ground floor only adding to that burden, we see a residential unit is having less impact on traffic and overall parking.
and we did, as they say, into a separate community benefits agreement.
This property is also interesting because it's 3 ,502 square feet, which permits 12 .97
residential units. And in the zoning code, it's the only place I know where you round down from
12 .97 to 12. So if we had eight additional square feet, we'd be allowed 13 residential units on this
So if we had eight additional square feet, we'd be allowed 13 residential units on this property.
property.
And what we're really doing is asking for a de minimis variance to have 13 residential units
and then a variance to convert the commercial space into another residential unit.
So to have 14 residential units, there's a mix of units.
We have studios, we have one studio, six one -bedroom units, four two -bedroom units, and three three -bedroom units.
and we have on the first floor we have a mail room bicycle parking on the interior
multiple units three units on the first floor and then floors two through five we have three
units on each i'm sorry yes three units on each of those four and on the fifth floor we only have
two units. And then we have a rooftop deck accessible for everybody, including the elevator
and two sets of stairs. We have a trash area in the back of the building. The RCO is really
concerned that we have lighting and security. They're concerned about that road that's alongside
of the property here. There is some crime back here. They want the building built here. They
They like the idea of having it and having the lighting and having additional people live here.
They understand that we're removed from the 63rd Street commercial corridor.
We believe that the property can't really be used for commercial purposes.
It's surrounded by residential and industrial uses in the railroad tracks.
It won't alter the character of the neighborhood.
I mean, across the street, it's all residential uses, motor family.
It will benefit everybody by developing this property, adding Isingers to the street,
adding lights and security um and you know we believe that that given the unique location of
the property that it will be and it complies with all the um dimensional and other requirements open
area height etc for the area and cmx 2 .5 clearly contemplates multifamily use i would like to call
I want Sean Pincus to join us as well, Mr. Chairman.
Is that your client's name again?
Sean Pincus.
Mr. Pincus?
Yes, he can have me.
Sean, please spell your first and last name and I'll swear you in.
Yes, it's Sean, S -E -A -N.
My last name, Pincus, P as in Paul, I -N -C -U -S as in Sam, Pincus.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Mariani.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And Sean, did you hear my statements?
Yes, I did.
And are they true and correct?
Yes, they are.
And do you adopt them as your testimony?
Yes, I do and will, yes.
Thank you.
Any questions from the board?
no no anyone else like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no more hands chair thank you planning commission good afternoon um chair and members of the board
my name is greg walden city planning commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the existing commercial mixed use zoning at this location this property received the
by right zoning permit in march of this year to build 12 bowling units and one ground floor
commercial space on a vacant lot the applicant now seeks to replace the big commercial space
with two residential bowling units this section of woodbine avenue appears not to have active
commercial uses which are more prevalent along the nearby commercial corridors of north 63rd street
and Lancaster Avenue. The applicant has demonstrated necessary hardship for not
providing commercial space in an area off of the mean commercial corridor. Accordingly,
we recommend that the request of variances be granted. Thank you very much. MI 2021 -002166211
woodbine avenue my vote is yes carol tenary my vote is yes confessor plaza my vote is yes
james now my vote is yes you thank you case number 13 mi 2021 that's zero zero two zero one three
seven four six north 40th street joseph consul is the attorney of record belmont alliance civic
originally opposed this application, but has since changed the position to support
after second meeting, and there will be revised plans offered at the time of testimony.
uh and they are there will be revised plans offered at the time of testimony mr consul
please identify yourself and i'll swear you in good afternoon board how's everyone doing
joe consul here consul madison llp one west third street suite 204 media pennsylvania
19063 would you spell your last name please c -o -n -s -o -l -e you swear for him to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you mrs canary has questions for you
okay do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do have
you emailed the exhibit packet as proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal
or referral photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have
you met with the rco and do you have a letter i did and we do okay all the other questions yes
okay all right all right share your screen again one moment if this is sharon before you begin
mr consul we also heard from andrew goodman that councilman got the a has no opposition
thank you so much i did share my screen is my appeal packet showing up
yes i guess i do joe console again how's everyone doing i'm here on 746 north 40th street that is
north 40th between Aspen and Brown. It is an empty lot that is 3 ,900 square feet. My client
is seeking to use the property as a multifamily dwelling. It's zoned RSA3, though, as you can see
on Atlas, the other side of the block is all multifamily properties. And based on the history
on this side of the block, we believe that was the case as well. There's several multifamilies
and several uh boarding houses uh approved on the side of the block that that we're on
uh the owner of the property is land exercise llc uh i've got representative mr robert sherman
on the call and i've got uh mr german yakubov representative of the architect uh on the call
as well both here to answer any questions we uh originally uh when we applied i pulled the refusal
we had sought 18 dwelling units over six floors um our thought process at the time was that the
building across the street was six units and uh that was one third the size so uh ours was three
times the size so we had asked for uh 18 units and as i said there were several multi -family
properties um on the other side of the block and on our side of the block as well however we met
with Belmont Civic for the first time on August 26th. At that time, there was a number of concerns
regarding our plans. Chief among them were the density and the height, as well as the proposed
design for the building facade. At the time, we had proposed a height above 38 feet. They were not
happy about that, and they weren't happy that the facades of our proposed plans originally didn't
match what they felt. As you can see on the block, there's a kind of a common characteristic of
having a porch with a roof on it, at least close enough to our building. They took a vote at the
time, rejected us pretty much across the board, but there was an expressed desire for development
on the block. The community asked us to redesign our plans and come back and to consider that
rejection vote to be provisional pending the next meeting. And so there's our new letter. We
came back and represented to the community on September 9th. We had the same number of neighbors
show up to the second meeting as we did the first. At the second meeting, the community and the near
neighbors overwhelmingly supported the drastically revised plans. That letter's in the packet. It's
the screen right now also in the packet is uh are the new plans as well as the proviso form which
we provided uh last week um we believe that we got such strong support because the developer took
careful strides to address uh every one of the neighbors concerns that they had at the first
meeting um we pull the plans up right quick go first we reduced the height to below 38 feet
that was from six stories to three stories
with an elevated ground level.
Second, we reduced the number of units by a third
from 18 to 12.
And finally, we created a front facade
that would blend in with the character of the block
by incorporating a porch roof,
as well as dormer window, dormer windows.
Um, yet we were still able to keep, um, some of the key elements and amenities that the
Yet we were still able to keep
some of the key elements and amenities.
neighbors, uh, had, um, enjoyed from our first presentation and sort of demanded that we
keep, which was bike parking and a trash plan.
Um, my, my client, uh, is, is big on frequent trash pickup.
The trash plan here will be private pickup, uh, from the rear of the property on Wyota
Street.
Uh, that's been confirmed three times a week that that is what we will do.
um so we have a ground floor that's uh above grade we have uh the ability uh to provide 11
two bed two bath units and um one one bed uh one bath unit uh and to keep all the amenities that
the neighbors were were asking for so uh that's the kind of the crux of my presentation i'm going
to call mr robert sherman uh to identify himself and incorporate my testimony
hi robert and please identify yourself with a record and i'll swear you in my name is robert sherman
r -o -b -e -r -t -s -h -e -r -m -a -n you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes sir thank you mr console please proceed good afternoon robert did you uh hear all my testimony
just now regarding 746 north 40th yes do you have do you incorporate it as your own yes do you have
anything you wish to add no okay thank you thank you any questions from the board no no anyone else
would like to testify in this case please raise your hand
no hands at this time chair thank you planning commission
good afternoon uh chair members of the board this is greg waldman for planning commission staff
the comprehensive plan recommends a change from the existing residential single family zoning
to multifamily residential at this location. Eight dwelling units in a 38 -foot structure would be
permitted by right in the proposed zoning district, while 12 units under the maximum height limit
comes closer to meeting the code requirements for the proposed zoning district than 18 dwelling
units in a building that is almost 60 feet in height. It still exceeds the minimum variance
that would relieve the applicant's hardship. Accordingly, we recommend that the requested
variance not be granted thank you uh mr council yes 12 units 38 foot height correct yes sir
commercial trash pickup correct three times a week
mi 2021 -002013 746 north 40th street my vote is yes with the following proviso maximum 12 units
similar height not to exceed 38 feet commercial trash put could pick up a minimum of three times
per week excuse me chair this is sharon i believe that the changes are reflected in
mr council correct me if i'm i'm wrong but revised plans
yeah i probably you're probably right one page yeah let me revive let me re re revoque that mi
2021 -002013
746 North
40th Street. My vote is yes
with the revised plan, one
page approved today. Thank you, Sharon.
Harold
Tenere, my vote is yes with
proviso. Professor
Plaza, yes with proviso.
James Snell, yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Last case on our two o 'clock list
is MI 2021 -002013
0 -1 -1 -7 -7 -1 -5 Crittenden, C -R -I -T -T -E -N -D -E -N Street.
Mr. Jarrett Klein is the attorney of record.
Chestnut Hill Community Association supports this application.
Mr. Klein, there you go.
please identify yourselves by your name and i'll swear you in certainly good afternoon mr chair
members of the board jared klein k -l -e -i -n from blank rome 130 north 18th street philadelphia
19103 you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do
thank you mr neary has some questions for you do you agree to avoid the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy i do uh subject to a missing special exception that we will discuss
I do subject to a missing special exception that we will discuss as I get into my presentation.
process, I guess.
Okay. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal or referral, photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes to all of the above.
Okay, great. You may proceed.
Thank you very much. I'm going to share my screen. Can everybody see that?
Good. Okay.
So this is for 7715 Crittenden Street, which is also known as the home of the Cheston Hill Village Residential Apartment Complex.
This is the scope of the complex here, as you can see.
This application is proposing a very small change.
It's the demolition and reconstruction of the pool house that serves the residents of the Cheston Hill Village Complex.
complex. And the reason for the refusal is a very specific FAR issue. And as you can see here,
we were refused for exceeding the maximum FAR of 70%. To contextualize this for the board,
I think very simply, this is an existing property that has been built up over the years to its
current condition. Currently, as it sits now, it is already at 90 % FAR. The zoning change and
application that we've proposed changes the square footage from 832 .363 to 833 .221. So it's a change
of 858 square feet, which is a very, very minimal variance. But because it's a pre -existing
nonconformity in terms of FAR, we were refused even for this minimal increase in the allowable
FAR. These are some existing conditions photos of the property. And we do have revised plans
that we've submitted that make some general changes to the layout of some of the items,
but do not affect the FAR in any way. This is the overall site survey. This area here is the
very small part of the overall complex that we're talking about. And these are the revised
plans that we have submitted to the board for their approval to give the board just a sense of
what we would be constructing. These are elevations for the new pool house. And there are some very
detailed interior layouts that I thought I would share, though they're not germane to the zoning
request. And just to give the board a flavor for what the finished product would look like,
as you can see, it's an upgrade over what was there previously. As I mentioned, there is a
special exception that is needed that is not on our refusal referral. There is a tree that is
located in this area here, and it is a heritage tree. And there were several versions of the
plans, and we believed that the plan initially submitted to L &I showed that tree being removed.
However, upon really zooming in very closely to the original plan, we realized that that tree was
not noted as being removed on the original plan. So we have a need for a special exception
to remove this heritage tree that was not included in the initial refusal.
Excuse me, this is Sharon. If I can recommend that the board, if they approve the project,
that they add a proviso stating approval includes special exception for removal of heritage tree if
required. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Sharon. And so the board is aware we did
discuss the removal of this tree with the Chester Hill Community Association during our several
productive conversations with them. They understood that it would be impossible to save the tree given
its proximity to the pool house. And so they were okay with the understanding that we would be
replacing it with 10 trees, the total diameter of which would equal the tree that's being removed.
So we are planting new landscaping throughout the site. And this, there is a general landscaping
plan here to show where we're adding some additional green space. As I mentioned, we met
with the Chestnut Hill Community Association
on several occasions.
Their letter of support
is on the screen in front of you.
They were very productive conversations
and we were able to assure them
that the materials that we're using for this
are consistent with what you see
architecturally in Chestnut Hill
and that this would be a very non -invasive change
to the rest of the surrounding community.
And we were thankful for their full support
of both the variants and the special exception request.
If I could ask Howard Wolf to raise his hand.
If I could ask Howard Wolf to raise his hand, I would just have him adopt my testimony and allow the board to continue with its long agenda.
Hello, Howard's here.
Hi, Howard. Please identify yourself with the record and I'll swear you in.
Hello.
Howard?
Unmute yourself, Howard.
Yeah, sorry.
Yes, Howard Wolf.
It's H -O -W -A -R -D -W -O -L -F.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Mr. Klein.
Thank you.
Howard, did you have a chance to listen to my presentation?
I did.
And do you adopt my statements as true, correct, and your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, that would conclude.
we would ask both for the proviso with the revised plans one page
and the special exception that Ms. Soletta kindly articulated earlier.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
Anyone else would like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
No hands, Chair.
Thank you.
Planning Commission?
Good afternoon, Chair.
and members of the board. My name is Greg Waldman, Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing multifamily residential zoning
at this location. The site currently exceeds permitted floor area ratio and the proposed
improvement would increase the degree of the floor area ratio nonconformity. There does not
appear to be a hardship that compels the owner to build a three -story pool house rather than
replacing the area of existing pool house in kind. Accordingly, we recommend that the requested
variance and special exception not be granted. Thank you. MI 2021 -002011 7715 Crittenden Street
my vote is yes with the following proviso revised plan one page approved today
and Sharon would you help me out with the language on the special exception yes tree if required
approval includes special exception for heritage tree if required yes chair thank you so noted
thank you that concludes the two o 'clock list hold on i guess we got a vote right uh
carolton airy my vote is yes with proviso sorry you already have voted james snell my vote is yes
will provide. Thank you all very much. Sure. Chair, we have the you skip number six. Oh,
that's the one we got to go back to Oh, my mistake. I apologize. I'm I 2021 -0021744335
lancaster avenue west the belmont civic association rco supports this application
my apologies ms amazon thank you i understand i'll make it brief
clemenza amazon c -l -e -m -e -n -t -a -a -m -a -z -a -n we're still under oath from earlier ms canary has some
questions for you do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do have you emailed an exhibit packet with required documents consisting of proof of
ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal or referral photos under plans of the property
five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter
yes and we do have a letter of support okay you may thank you do you have a twin sister
no i do not have a twin set well okay technically i do i do have a set of twins in my family okay
oh please proceed
um so i will make it brief i am presenting 4335 lancaster avenue as you can see this is the front
of the property we are proposing a event space for small gatherings the property is currently
zoned at CMX2, so we do have a notice of referral. My presentation, you will see the lease, certificate
of tax clearance, notice of referral, application for special exception, maps of the area, photographs
of the property, as well as our proposed plans and drawings, and the letter of support that we
received from nearby neighbors, as well as the RCO West Belmont Civic Association. Here we have the lease.
The certificate tax clearance, the notice of referral, as I mentioned before, the property is under CMX 2, so we are here only for a special exception.
so we are here only for a special exception application for the special exception again
this is a small event space we have a map of the area of entire blocks of cmx2 we are right along
lancaster avenue a large commercial corridor here we have a view of the front of the property
view of the rear of the property a view to the right of the property on lancaster avenue
view to the left of the property on lancaster avenue ogden street to the right of the property
5th Street to the left of the property. Here we have a view of the interior. This is the first floor
and our proposed plans and drawings. So the basement will not be used for the event spaces
purely for storage. And the first floor, as you saw in the picture earlier, is the primary event
space, the only event space really. And we do have a letter of support from West Belmont Civic
Association and nearby neighbors also wanted to provide support for the project as well.
Our notice that we sent to the community for the meeting on August 9th at 530, a list of properties that were notified, and our certificate of mailing.
So if I may have my client, Angel Green, adopt my testimony.
If not, I understand that it's getting late, so as an officer of court, I would submit it to its accuracy.
and he's available he could have noted questions from the board no no questions no
lakisha i apologize i spoke over you did did you have something to say i was saying mr green was
he's unmuted now all right mr green please identify yourself and i'll swear you in
my name is ronald green i am the operator of the event space you swear from to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you miss uh miss amazon mr green did you hear my
my presentation today yes is it true and correct yes it is and would you adopt as your own testimony
yes i would thank you thank you uh chair this is sharing um councilwoman gauthier is in non -opposition
thank you uh planning commission
good afternoon chair members of the board my name is great waldman for planning commission staff
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to existing commercial mixed use zoning at this
location. The applicant has demonstrated that the proposed assembly and entertainment use
will not cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond that which normally
might be expected from the proposed use. Accordingly, we recommend that the requested
special exception be granted. Thank you. MI 2021, that's 002 -174 -4335 Lancaster Avenue. My vote is
yes. Carol Tenere,
my vote is yes.
Confessor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Bell,
my vote is yes. Thank you.
And again, Ms. Amazon and your client,
I apologize for
skipping over you guys. Apologize.
Thank you.
Thank you. That concludes the two o 'clock list.
Is there anyone who
believes that they have not been identified
for any of the
cases that are on the two o 'clock list?
no hands chair all right it is now what 4 40 4 43 4 45 we'll take a 10 minute break we'll be back
at five of five five of five
carol you're smiling is that a yes okay thank you yes
and we're ready when you are chair thank you very much good afternoon again everyone my name
is frank de chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating in
today's hearing along with our vice chair ms carol tennari board secretary confessor plaza
and board member mr james snow board administrator lakeisha dandy and board attorney ms sharon
Soletta are also in attendance. For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual
hearings, I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect. First, we will be administering
oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony. Second, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded, and that by participating you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded, and that the recording will be made available to the public on the web or otherwise.
Third, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
I repeat, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must...
For anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself.
Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
I will repeat that. To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267 -270 -5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue. I'd also like to remind everyone, please do not attempt to testify in the chat.
Any comments, questions, or issues, please address them to our Board Administrator, Ms. Lakeisha Dandy.
Having said that, I will read off a list of continuance requests on the 330 list.
Case number one, MI 2020, excuse me, MI 2021 -000128, 1737 Bergen Street.
And I believe as of now, that is the only request for a continuance.
Does anyone object to that case being continued? If so, please raise your hand.
No hands at this time, Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to now ask you.
Chair, excuse me. This is the court reporter. I pardon the interruption.
May I have one minute in place? I need to change the batteries in my backup.
Certainly. Let us know when you're ready. Take your time.
Thank you.
Thank you.
thank you very much chair I'm ready to proceed thank you did you get the first case I called
I did get I got all of that I just I noticed the battery indicator dropping so I just needed to
change no no worries no worries so I'll ask now is anyone would anyone like to continue a case
or withdraw a case please raise your hand if you would like to request a continuance or withdrawal
please raise your hand no hands sure thank you uh so we'll go to case number two uh mi 2021 that's
zero zero one eight zero one four five two seven styles street
represented by the owner i believe jessica roman
no hands at this time chair no hands and this is a first listing no exhibits so mi 2021 -001
801 4527 style street is continued go to case number three am i chairman excuse me you want to
make that a must -be -heard thank you confessor you welcome that case mi mi 2021 -001 -801
4527 styles is continued must be heard thank you case number three mi 2021 -001 -855
4540 sansom street this is a pro se the owners are timothy and jessica mccullum
excuse me chair this is sharing the owners are pro se they will be representing themselves but
if you could also um promote their architect brian adams in case there are questions for him
or if he has exhibits to present okay we'll have mr adams and also the walnut hill community
association rco supports this application and i'm not seeing a mr adams in the audience
but we'll go with thank you we'll go with timothy and jessica mccullum
hi this is timothy mccullum
mccullum hi this is timothy mccullum hi timothy please spell your full name for the record
each of you sure t -i -m -o -t -h -y m as in michael c -c -o -l -l -u -m and jessica mccullum j -e -s -s -i -c -a
m -c -c -o -l -l -u -m do you both swear and affirm to testify the truth do you both swear or affirm
to testify to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes yes okay okay uh please
proceed with uh your presentation sure and as we were adding ourselves as panelists i think you
were talking about uh our architect brian he was not able to stay on um but we don't expect to we
weren't going to call him okay that's fine he's not necessary but since he had communicated with
me. I wanted to be sure you had an opportunity. I'm trying to share my screen here. Just take me
a second. But we are requesting, so we had submitted plans to add a third story to our
two -story row home, and we're requesting a variant so that we can build up and construct a
mansard roof you have any exhibits you can share with us yeah i'm i'm sorry i'm um i'm signing
into the google drive yeah no worries no worries take your time about that no worries okay and we
did um our architect did submit a packet um and that's what i'm going to pull up here
i'll just give it a second but yeah we're requesting a variance so that we can build
up to the front of the property and not not do the eight foot variance setback that's right sorry
um so here are can everybody see that yes we can yes we can so we did meet with the walnut pill
rco in august and received a letter of them unanimous approval
um so there were no concerns um and the the reason for the requested variance is just that we're uh
we have three children we're trying to maximize the space um available to us uh and i work from
home now and will continue to do so for this foreseeable future um the uh you know building
up to the front of the property will allow us to include an office in our plans um and then i guess
my wife will uh show some additional um you know neighbor surrounding yes so here's the letter from
our walnut hill community association showing the um in favor of our project and then i'm gonna go
straight down to our presentation. So this has the yellow area is our where our home is. It's
kind of that orange. We're part of a block that mostly has three stories. However, there is a
group of us to either side of us that are two story homes. There's about six of them, six or
seven of them on the block. The rest of them are three -story homes. This next page kind of shows
neighboring blocks that also have mansard roofs all the way up to the front of their buildings.
Just examples of that. This shows our existing house here on the left and an elevation on the
right side that shows what our proposed third story
mansard roof with a window looks like.
And then here is our plans with a rendering.
So you'll see that the office is in the front.
We have a master bath, master bedroom,
and what would happen to it if we were not able
to um to build to the front of our building of our house
okay i think that's it yeah we get it we get it thank you yeah we get thank you and thank you for
making the decision to invest and stay in philadelphia exactly yes any questions from the
board i have one are all the kids in school yes they are in the same school this year for
first our first year all in the same school yes good and i ask that because the your husband is
working from home so that's really good yes okay thank you any questions from the board no no
thank you uh anyone else like to testify in this case please raise your hand
Thank you. Anyone else like to testify in this case, please raise your hand.
No hands, Chair.
Thank you. Planning Commission, Ron, please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Yes. First name, Ron. Last name, Bednar. I'm with the City Planning Commission. That's spelled R -O -N. Last name, Bednar, B -E -D -N -A -R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Please proceed.
This property is indicated for residential use on the city plan.
Given the physical circumstances, we recommend the request for Vance Prevent.
Thank you.
MI 2021 -0018554540 Sanson Street, my vote is yes.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes.
confessor plaza yes james snell my vote is yes thank you and good luck to you congratulations
good luck thank you thank you case number four mi 2021 -002275
730 -32 west moyamensing avenue the attorney is raymond dorizio lower moyamensing civic association
as well as near neighbors and councilman marks will all sent a letter of either support or non
opposition mr dorizio please identify yourself i swear you in
is mr dorizio out in cyberland or wherever it is i'm sorry here i am okay please no no no no
apologies spell your full name and i'll swear you win thank you raymond dorizio d -o -r -i -z -i -o
address 2 pence center suite 521 -9102 you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
about the truth i do thank you please proceed okay so this is 7 30 7 32 west momenting avenue
um the application is for three units in the existing structure um it's a rsa 5 neighborhood
This property is, I guess, double wide. It takes up two addresses, 730 to 732. It's on the corner of Franklin Street and Moimensing Avenue. Moimensing Avenue intersects right with Wolf Street over there at that intersection.
um so we did meet with lower moymencing um rco they gave us a letter of support here's an aerial
shot we're kind of right uh off to the right there it's a google map and at the bottom there
is the property that's the moymencing avenue side of the property so it is a rather large
structure. Sorry about that. My page is turned, but I'm doing this from my iPad, so I'm not sure
if I could turn that, but that is the Franklin Street side of the property. There's a zoning
map here. There are some CMX2, but mostly RSA5. Directly across the street from this property on
Franklin Street is a synagogue. There is a store that's on the corner of Moyman -Singham -Wolf. I
don't even know if that's operational. It's kind of never been anything. And then there is another
business that is on the corner of Apen -Wolf and then the school on Apen -Wolf Key School.
This is a deed. This property has been in my client's family for decades. Here are the plans.
the first floor and second floor in the front is the living unit of Joseph and Mary DeChristopher
who are the owners and the applicants here and then there would be one unit each on the first
and second floor in the rear there is a garage at the rear of the building
on Franklin Street here are some of the pictures of the utilities it's always had kind of multi
utilities there. Zoning notice posted. My client went around and did get signatures from neighbors
in this position for support. He's got about three pages. I know they're hard to see, but they
are better seen in the packet that was sent. Here's some leases that were from the 40s. My
Here's some leases that were from the 40s. My clients had this property, at least their family did since the 40s, back in like 1945, where it was rented to some folks. This is from 1945, a couple leases here. And it's kind of always been this way. I think it was a fish store way back when, when his grandfather had it.
clients had this property.
I mean, these are just these these leases are back from World War II, basically.
And here is a copy of the meeting summary with the RCO, a tax clearance that my client has.
And that's essentially what he's looking to do is legalize, so to speak, an already existing multi -unit, no changes to the out to the exterior of the property.
my client should be on Joseph and Mary to Christopher and I would ask if they
could testify and adopt what I've testified to so far. Thank you. Are the Christophers available?
Yes he can unmute himself.
Hello. Please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
Joseph DeChristopher, J -O -S -E -P -H -D -E, capital C -H -R -I -S -T -O -P -H -E -R.
Do you swear if I'm going to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Mr. Dorizio?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
So, Mr. DeChristopher, you heard my testimony.
Is it truthful and accurate, and would you adopt it as your own?
Yes, it is.
okay and you're the owner of this property yes okay and mary de christopher is your wife
yes okay thank you questions from the board no no and just just to add real quick i i believe
we we do have a hardship based on the dimensions and characteristics of the property um as far as
uh physical attributes of it thank you sorry is there anyone else who would like to testify in
this case if so please raise your hand no handshare thank you planning commission
it's a ron bed in our city planning this property is indicated for residential use on the city plan
given the documented use history we recommend the request advance beginning thank you mi 2021
731 -002 -275, 730 -32 West Moy -Mensing Avenue.
My vote is yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Professor Plaza, my vote is yes.
James Svelme, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
We'll now go to cases number five.
Thank you very much. Have a good evening.
Thank you.
Cases number five and six, they're combined MI 2021 -001862, 907 South 26th Street, and MI 2021 -001861, 909 South 26th Street.
The owners are Hoon Young Ho and Hoon Ho Oh, I believe. Hopefully I'm pronouncing them right.
If the applicant is here for that case, can you please raise your hand?
The O family?
Okay, one second.
Mr. Sam?
Hello.
Yes, please identify yourself with a record.
Yes, my name is Hoon Ho, spelled H -O -O -N, spelled H -O -O, last name is O -H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, sir.
Ms. Tenere has questions for you.
Sir, did you mail the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter?
I have a representing by my architect, Sam Zhu.
Wait a minute, is the court reporter able to get that?
Wait a minute, is the court reporter able to get that?
Honestly, no, Chair.
Yeah, I didn't think so.
Sir, could you speak a little bit more clearly into your device?
We're having a hard time hearing you.
I have a representative, my architect.
put your architect on what's his name
excuse me this is Sharon but the architect cannot present the case he can
he or she can present exhibits and answer questions so maybe sir maybe you can answer this
are your taxes paid say it again are your taxes paid and did you send that paper into hello hello
hi all right let's try this i know the architect would you please identify yourself
Yes, my name is Sao -San Xu, spells S -H -A -O hyphen X -I -A -N and X -U is the last name.
Excuse me.
I'm going to get him sworn in.
Of course, I'm sorry.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Sharon?
I just wanted to confirm that all the required documents were submitted.
I did review them.
Oh, great.
To the architect, we're having a difficult time hearing Mr. O.
You're technically not allowed.
We can ask you questions.
If you can get your client to share his screen with any of the exhibits, that would be helpful.
I'm sorry.
Excuse me.
I'm actually the applicant.
I'm sorry.
the applicant is always considered to be the property owner regardless of who submits the
application again you cannot present the case but you can share your screen and show the exhibits
you can answer questions if your clients can simply put on the record what they're asking for
and why they need it yes thank you you're welcome
Mr. Oh, Mr. Oh, yeah, um, yeah, sorry, get it, what I have your permission to share the screen.
yes yes yeah okay thank you
and for the record sasner has sent a letter of deferral on both applications
and should i uh uh show the letter right now
share the share the exhibits okay exhibits
here is the fun elevation that we propose we don't see anything yet anything uh you have to share
lakisha could you guide him yes um there's a green button at the bottom of your screen
saying share screen just click on that uh share screen yep and just make sure your documents
are already open before you hit that button
can you all see now okay yes we can thank you so this is the uh front elevation we uh proposing
Let me open all the required items that was emailed several days ago.
as the application and the the uh response from the plan examiner
We are here today because the unique condition we have of the site, due to no driveway from
the back or alley access to the parking, the rest we are already by right approvable except
the parking right now the there's no street parking on the front or the side
the street leading to it Montreux Street very narrow I will show the
the picture of the site. Here's the site. And as we can see, the street is very...
Sir, we only see the exhibit that shows your refusal. We don't see the photos of the street.
Okay, let me open that again.
Thank you.
okay okay is this visible now yes okay here's the uh the site right in the middle of the picture
and the street south 26th street both sides uh very narrow sidewalk no street parking at all
To the left of this picture is a power station or substation, and then to the either side of the lock are fairly new buildings with the one in the foreground that has similar parking on site.
And then let me open up more.
this one is uh the view looking south as we can see a similar building uh also three stories
it's just to the to the south of it and it has a carport
actually well one parking space and one carport and then
next one
I want to show you, here is the map of the site, that's where we are and the street in
front leading to the site is also very narrow, no parking space, and there are several buildings
that also have similar parking arrangements along both sides of the street so these are
two single family dwellings yes okay we're proposing uh
two units for each lot with uh two floors
they're two duplexes they're not single family right two duplexes correct
and they are basically narrow images due to the narrowness of the site we we don't have the uh
the uh way of complying with the code to have a garage and enter to the building
to the upper unit, what happens is the site is...
The site is only 16 feet wide each, but in this unique location, it has...
I'm sorry. This is Sharon. I am sorry to interrupt, but can we get the owner on the record for some of this presentation, please?
hello yes are you your your proposal is to build two duplexes correct yes uh well we got denied on
uh parking uh the refusal was for parking yes and uh now uh 26th street is very narrow there's
no street parking right and and the uh next door has the carport and multi -family units okay and
and to the to the uh left the single family units they all have garages and so by putting a two car
port um if if if we don't have a parking they have to have to park on uh different streets
where the parking, street parking is available.
So by doing this, we'll give more space to neighbors
that can park on the street.
So on this street, Montrose is very narrow,
no parking on the street.
And 26 ,000 St. Street, our block is very narrow,
no parking on the street.
And both of our neighbors, as one has lots of carports,
parking under the second floor and onto the neighbors.
They have garages, they can park.
I think we understand that.
I think we understand that.
Thank you.
All right.
Any questions from the board?
sorry no all right um anyone else like to testify in this case please raise your hand
no hands here thank you planning commission uh this is ron bednar city planning this is for both
properties um these properties are indicated for residential use on a city plan given a unique
locational site access condition we recommend that the request for variance be granted for both
thank you very much ron mi 2021 -001 862 907 south 26 street and mi 2021 -001 861 909 south 26 street
my vote is yes to both. Harold Teneri my vote is yes to both. Professor Plaza yes to both.
James Snell yes to both. Thank you. I believe that concludes the 3 .30 list. Is there anyone
who feels as though they've not been recognized for any cases on the 3 .30 list? If so please raise
your hand no hands chair thank you uh that concludes everything hopefully we didn't make
any violate any granting of variances today any laws uh defense who you ask frank i'll get my son
will be a judge soon so he'll get you out in due time uh i want to thank everyone as usual uh for
making this happen. I said this
in the past, and more recently
as it relates to some comments that have
been made about this board, people
have no idea what it takes to put these
cases together and what we go through.
So thank you to everyone, especially
the folks behind the scenes who make this happen.
Have a great weekend. Stay safe.
Stay safe.
Thanks. Good night. Have a good weekend.
Thank you.
See you all later.
Thank you all. Good night.
Good night.
Bye, everybody.