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.