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