Thank you.
chair we have 37 attendees you can proceed as you wish thank you good morning everyone my name
is bill bergman and i will be chairing this morning's meeting with me is our vice chair
president mr chairman our board member james snell president mr chairman our board member
Cheryl L. Gaston? Present, Mr. Chairman. Our board member Tanetta Graham? Present, Mr. Chairman. I'm
having issues with my camera, so I might come out and go back in. I mean, go out. Thank you.
Thank you. Our board member Michael Johns? Present, Mr. Chairman. And our board member
Taya Nguyen? Present, Mr. Chairman. So present is our attorney Hilary Emerson.
here's our virtual format the proceedings are being recorded with your participation
you agree to be recorded a video will be available by contacting kathleen.grady
at phila.gov for our court stenographer and attorneys we ask witnesses to identify themselves
before testifying you're participating by phone press star nine to raise your hand and star six
to unmute. To enter and appear in a statement call, 267-270-5548. Leave your email address
and the address of the property question. And finally, the question box on the screen
is not for testimony. All comments should be directed to our executive director, Kathleen
grading. Let's look at today's schedule. Number four. MI 2023 00784 263 East Upson Street. Miranda Darden is the listed owner. It's a pro se.
um could miranda darden please come on
miranda has been about to speak
good morning could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer
sure um miranda darden m-i-r-a-n-d-a-d-a-r-d-e-n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes could you give me an update on your case
um i think this is my final hearing they said if it no one shows today then it would be dismissed
by the board i've had a little bit of trouble getting scheduled in the past year um and then
when i have gotten scheduled the dates have seemingly i've run out of time to get um certain
notices out so it's a little bit of a runaround situation but i have talked to lisa and she let
me know that this shouldn't be that complicated of a matter it's a offense so all right i'm kind
of here to seeing what happens next so we're going to continue this one more time for you okay
okay so if is it not dismissed today if no one shows like they said well you're you're you're
you're the, you're the owner, right? Yes. So you're here. Oh, I thought it meant people that
you know, you know, you've, you've requested a continuance, right? So this case is going to be
continued. So MI 2023, 000784, 263 East Upland Street, case is continued. Mark must be heard
the next time. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Number five, MI 2023-002-125, 1912 South Front
Street. This case has been continued attorney moving party by the board. Number 10,
MI 2023 002628 1458 North 30 Street. Kevin Bryant is the listed owner. Councilman Young's office has requested a continuance. It must be heard. No exhibits. This is the third listing. Mr. Bryant.
Good morning, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Hand. I will be your co-host for today. I do not see Mr. Bryant in the virtual audience, and there are no hands raised.
Good morning, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Hand. I will be your co-host.
All right. So this is the third listing.
And Mr. Chair, I just wanted to clarify the request for continuance was for the prior listing, not for this listing from the council office. Thank you.
Thank you. So MI 2023 002 628 1458 North 30th Street. This is the third listing. No exhibits. I vote to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston. My vote is to dismiss. My vote is to dismiss. Tywin, my vote is to dismiss.
is that a grant my vote is to dismiss james now my vote is to dismiss
thank you mi 2020 number 14 mi 2023 006 399 50 44 westminster avenue cases continued
and number 15
MI 2023, 006-693-1503 East Luzerne Street, the case has been continued.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
Mr. Chair, I have a hand up from Rania Major Esquire.
I have allowed them to speak.
Good morning.
was she handed
the hand was raised I have allowed to speak
but they may be having technical difficulties
Rania Major are you there
excuse me chair and Jason
Mr. Anastasio had his hand up
I've allowed him to speak.
I don't know if he's affiliated with this case or not.
Mr. Anastasio.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
I am not affiliated with this case.
Okay, thank you.
Could you just state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
What's the location of your case?
I have 834 North 63rd Street.
Let me see here.
In a minute.
Lori, what case is that?
That is number 17, Mr. Chair.
Sure, this last case here.
Okay, right.
We have that as a no exhibit second listing.
Where do we stand with this case?
I'm still working with my client, Mr. Chair, and getting the RCO on board.
So we are working through it, and I respectfully request another continuance.
All right.
Thank you.
MI 2023-006-850, 834 North 63rd Street.
Cases continued.
Mark must be heard.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Do we have any other hands up, Jason?
yes rania major has her hand up again i will allow them to speak again
and your major please unmute good morning council
council
Rainer Major, please unmute. You're free to speak.
Chair, it might be a technical issue.
So let's go to the rest of the cases we have, and we'll come back to him, okay?
Because that case is one that we're interested in.
So, number one, 2022-001-110, 6619 Musgrave Street.
No exhibits, six listing.
Abe Morad is the listed owner.
It's a pro se.
Mr. Chair, I do not see that individual of the virtual audience this morning.
Thank you. So number one, Mr. Chair, sorry, Mr. Anastasio has his hand raised. I don't know if.
So, number one. Mr. Chair, sorry, Mr. Anastasio has his hand raised. I don't know if he has any involvement in this case.
Mr. Anastasio. I'm about to speak. Mr. Chair. Good morning, Mr. Chair. Unrelated to this.
Okay. Tell me, what's your other case you want to talk about? 6930 Ardley Street.
hillary what number that's number 11 mr chair okay
okay um this is mi20230027506930 ardley street could you please give us an update
Yes, Mr. Chair. I've been advised that the requested two-family dwelling is now a by-right use, and accordingly, I'd like to withdraw the appeal.
Thank you. So, number 11, MI 2023-002-750-6930, Ardleigh Street, case has been withdrawn.
Thank you.
Back to number one. Abe Moorhead, we don't see him.
we don't see him am i correct no okay so uh charles uh sorry mr charles richardson has
a hand raised i believe this is in councilwoman's district
good morning mr chair good morning just state your name please and spell for the court sonographer
Certainly. Charles Richardson, R-I-C-H-A-R-D-S-O-N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass from 508 City Hall.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I certainly do.
So 6619 Musgrave Street, do you have any updates?
There has been no meeting, and there's been no contact by the applicant to the RCO at any point.
We've now had two different iterations of RCO committees for East Mount Area Neighbors, but this applicant has never reached out to either committee, suggesting that you guys dismiss this case.
Thank you very much for your phone call, and we appreciate it.
So MI 2022-001-110-6619 Musgrave Street, sixth listing, I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
Sure, okay.
My vote is to dismiss.
Tyowin, my vote is to dismiss.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
James Snell, my vote is to dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
Thank you.
Number six, MI 2023-002-181-362 Claremont Road.
Marcus Belcher is the owner applicant.
No exhibits, third listing.
um last hearing no one appeared mr belcher
all right mr chair once again i do not see that person in the virtual audience this morning thank
you thank you so mi 2023 002 181 362 claremont road no exhibits third listing i vote to dismiss
michael johns my vote is to dismiss
cheryl gaston my vote is to dismiss
tennetta graham my vote is to dismiss
james snell my vote is to dismiss
taiwan my vote is to dismiss
ishmael shahi my vote is to dismiss
thank you number seven mi20230023662251 south 23rd street
Dennis and Barbara, third listing.
Mr. Chair, I do not see them in the virtual audience.
Okay, so this is the third listing.
Third listing, and we still don't have exhibits.
MI 2023-002-366-2251 South 23rd Street.
I vote to dismiss.
Michael Johns, my vote is to dismiss.
My vote is to dismiss.
My vote is to dismiss.
My vote is to dismiss.
My vote is to dismiss.
My vote is to dismiss.
My vote is to dismiss.
My vote is to dismiss.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, I'm sorry to interrupt, but
my major has their hand raised again
under another name.
Do I invite them to speak?
Understood.
good morning counsel could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Good morning, counsel. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
certainly
Certainly. This is Rania Major. Its first name is R-A-N-I-A, last is M-A-J-O-R.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, Your Honor.
So, 2005 to 07 East Sargent Street, this is our sixth listing. Could you please give us an update?
yes your honor yesterday apparently i wasn't in i had an oral procedure but they dropped off some
paperwork i have not been able to actually speak to my client for a couple weeks we also had
at my personal office we had three break-ins by a known assailant and that's why i was having
problems logging in i didn't realize that he stole my camera that goes to my computer um
um so yeah so yesterday they dropped off a yellow zoning notice they dropped off some paperwork
about his taxes but not the paperwork that you needed nor any pictures of the posting of the
notice uh let alone the fact that it's actually yellow and not orange i have not been able to
speak to him personally for not quite a month about since the time you got sent us the notice
which was somewhere around august 1st um which is when we were going through the break-ins um
so i don't know if you'll consider giving us one more chance to get all this paperwork right
or i know it was mark must be tried i've been having a very difficult time with this client
okay so i do notice so that east kensington neighbors association did meet and letter of
non-opposition also from council member squelor so i'm going to continue this one more time
but it it either you're ready or not the next time okay no i understand and i appreciate that
so mi 2022 004 563 2005-07 east sergeant street case it continued must be tried the next time
must be heard thank you maybe just um yes you you can thank you let's see here and number
17 oh we did we did we did this with uh verne did he do that yes okay thank you all right um
okay let's let's start our cases we're going to go to number three first it's a pro se
MI-2023-005-07-2172 East 1st Street.
Corey Bowlby is the listed owner applicant.
This application is for use as a visitor accommodation in an existing structure.
The proposed use of visitor accommodation is prohibited in the RSA-5 zoning district.
A letter of opposition from Old Richmond Civic and a letter of opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Mr. Bowl by. Hello. Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the courts?
Yes, this is Corey Bowlby spelled C-O-R-E-Y last name B-O-W-L-B-Y. You swear a firm to tell the
truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Yes, I do. Could you please turn on your video?
Sure. Our vice chair has a few questions, sir.
Hello.
Good morning, sir.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with
this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you, sir.
Please proceed and share your screen.
You want me to share my screen?
Please.
Oh, okay.
What am I sharing?
Apologies.
All your documents.
Okay, give me one minute. Let me pull them up.
You see a green button at the bottom there to share screen?
Yes, just grabbing those.
sorry for the slowness here
yeah you're coming up now
can you see my screen we do
Okay. All right. So which documents would you like to?
Why don't you start with all your documents, just run through them real quick.
I see most of them are photos.
Okay. Yep. Um, I sent a couple emails just to make sure everything was received. Um,
Okay. Yep. I sent a couple of emails just to make sure everything was.
so this is my, um, denial, um, for the permit. Okay. Okay. Move to the next one. Uh, the zoning
notice with, with it posted at the property. This is the, um, appeal number.
This is the project information form.
This is the revised plans form.
This is the deed.
Certificate of tax clearance.
and then i later provided photos the photos as well money money is why don't you tell us what
you're trying to do um so i purchased the home about uh two years ago and i furnished the home
i've been living in the home and then um i had a change in in jobs um so i'm uh unfortunately i'm
working with USAID to basically put in financial systems in some developing countries etc so I've
been traveling significant amounts of time so I want to have the ability to rent out my home when
I'm not there but I don't want to have a long-term rental because I have you know nice furniture and
things that I've put in the place. So I don't want to try to move that out in storage. And I'm not
sure when my job will end. And I'll be able to go back in, you know, living full time in my home.
So in the meantime, I want to be able to offset my costs by having it rented when I'm not there.
So that's the reason for my request. So what happened when you went to the RCO?
Um, I was traveling when, um, the RCO meeting happened. So unfortunately I couldn't be there
in person, which is unfortunate. Um, so I understand that there were some people that,
um, had, uh, bad experiences with people or maybe not directly, but indirectly,
um, with people that had, um, Airbnbs where people were not respectful. Um, and, um, uh,
So anyways, there were several people that voiced their concern with that.
I did respond essentially that whenever I am home, I'm the first one that's going down the street, sweeping the whole sidewalk or the whole street.
Because unfortunately, on that street, people don't clean up as well as I think we should.
But I'm very conscious and I have nice things and it's a very nice place.
and the last one it just shows a few photos real quick work yeah and this is um excuse me
mr chair i just wanted to ask mr bolby um did you said that they had the meeting but you weren't
there did you attend virtually yeah i attended virtually okay okay i just want to make sure
you were present thank you yeah um so this is i had taken these before um i had furnished it
unfortunately i didn't realize i needed to take pictures and i was traveling so i didn't have the
chance to take new pictures but um it's the same but it has it's all furnished are you currently
renting the property now no no it's fully furnished it's just empty which is unfortunate
so when i come back there's spider webs and um stuff so all right all right questions from the
board. How do you plan to manage this if you're away all the time? So I spoke with a couple
management companies and they have a full staff of people that look after the place. So even if
I'm not renting it, they can look after it. They inspect it before and after. They also are close
by so that they can, if there is any sort of issue, they can run over there quickly, which I
would love to have that service just generally um but it just doesn't make sense for me to have that
if i um if i don't have any costs offset um so yeah a management company to um to help me with
it did the the drco vote yeah so there were i think um eight people that were attending i think
um one person said yeah i think that that makes a lot of sense and then the other people said
well we don't see why we should vote for this um so they voted against it
eight to one eight to one eight to one
Thank you. Any other questions?
any other questions yours is the only um visitor
Do you know yours is the only visitor accommodations in the area? Only a block?
So somebody said during the meeting that there's someone a block away that is not doing visitor accommodation, but they've got a permit because I guess they rented out half the time.
But they said that that person, that there's, you know, loud music, etc.
And that's what they cited for their reference for voting against.
All I could do is say that, you know, I'd be picky with who's staying at the place because it's, you know, it's my place and I thought I was living there.
So there's a lot of nice things. So I don't want any damage to it at all.
So I'd be very conscious of that. But all I could do is obviously give my word as assurance.
Any other questions to the board?
um and the trash and what have you that would be handled by this management company you would
engage if you got this permit yeah so that what they indicate as far as their service is um
after every single stay they inspect the property they take pictures of the property because again
i'm i'm not um there um so it's my assurance that they're doing a thorough job so they clean the
place they take pictures and they take the trash out on trash day um so that that made me feel
really good because i felt like actually it was a better position than what i have now which is
i come back to the home even if i had a house cleaning service and i've got spider webs and
you know it looks like you know nobody nobody's lived there in months which is you know the case
so um i think it's a much better situation actually that the home will stay even nicer
if I have this in place.
Thank you.
Questions or comments from our attorney,
Hilliard Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good morning.
This is Meg Cavanaugh for Planning Commission staff.
Do I need to spell my name?
yeah please sure thank you yeah um first name meg meg last name cavanaugh c-a-v-a-n-a-g-h
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed yes uh the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa 5 residential
single-family zoning at this location there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of
this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code the city
Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the proposed use variants for visitor accommodations.
MI 2023, 000507, 2172 East Fur Street, I vote no.
Michael Jonas, my vote is no.
Ty Owen, my vote is no.
Zanetta Graham, my vote is no.
James Snell, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shaheed. My vote is no. Thank you, sir. No, Cheryl Gaston. My vote is yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Number nine, MI 2023-002-5.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, before we jump to the next case, there was a couple other cases that we didn't address.
Number eight was a request for continuance.
And then number 13 was a no exhibits.
Yeah, I thought I did.
I did number eight.
Oh, then I may have missed it.
Right.
And number 13, you said?
okay i'll do number 13 now um mi2023 006 398 1301 north 52nd street bruce harman is the
owner second listing council member got the express support for the special accepted
do i allow them to speak
bruce harman sir
yeah bruce harman is not in the virtual audience but uh mark harris has their hand raised
okay let's see who it is
Good morning.
Are you allowed to speak?
Hi, Mr. Harris, are you involved in this case, 152nd Street?
Yes, sir.
I'm the president of the local RCOC Association, and we are in favor.
I'm the president of the local RCO casino department association.
Okay. Thank you. We're looking for the owner.
Thank you very much, Mr. Harris.
And Mr. Harris, could I swear you in, please?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Harmon.
Do we see Bruce Harmon's hand anywhere?
No, I don't see that.
I do not see the answer.
Okay, so MI 2023-006-398-1301-North 52nd Street.
Cases continued.
Mark must be heard.
Thank you.
I'm going to go back to number nine.
Number nine, MI 2023, 002-596-3023, Welsh Road.
Salim Sanders is the listed owner.
Unanimous support.
We have unanimous support for this project.
by Home Circle Civic Association.
Coming back in as a panelist. Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Sanders. It's Salima Sanders.
Good morning. Hi, could you state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Yes, it's Salima Sanders, S-A-L-E-E-M-A-H, last name Sanders, S-A-N-D-E-R-S.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Okay, so this application is for the creation of an accessory all-street parking space
on the same lot as an existing semi-detached structure parking accessory to existing single
family household living use whereas the proposed service parking space is located within the
required rear yard which is prohibited our vice chair has a few questions for you okay
good morning miss sanders have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed
to proceed with this case five days in advance
of this hearing? Yes, I believe I did
it four days.
Okay. Please share your
screen. Please proceed and share your screen.
One second.
Please
set your camera on as well.
All right. One second.
Good morning. Hello.
Could you share your
screen? Yes. I don't
hold on. Give me one second.
yeah i'm clicking the green button but it's not changing how my screen is positioned
Please open up the document first.
Okay, I'm trying to make it larger because I'm not sure. Are you able to see?
We see the posting.
Okay, so this is my initial email to, I guess, the board.
Okay, so this is my application for the exemption.
This is a portion of where the parking space will be.
This is in the back of the home, and this is the parking spots.
My exemption was for, they said that a standard parking space in Philadelphia was 20 feet.
I have 18 and a half, so my request was for allowance of the exemption of the 18 and a half feet being allowed to be in the parking space.
and let's eliminate the garage was converted to living space
um it was just the garage door was taken down the inside was already like this
It was just the garage door was taken down. The inside was already like that. So I just took, so back when, I guess about two years ago when we had that one hurricane, I was getting water through the garage door. So I just opted into changing the appearance of that. And that's when all of the, my issues have started with this.
And that's a single family home, am I correct?
All right. Continue. Thank you.
okay it's still a single family but the there's not a physical garage door is
closed at all right um and there's also one other uh posting that i i mean the certificate
the tax certificate i had to send that in separately let me see how to get to that
so let me ask you this the block that you live on are other people parking the same way
in the back yes so physically i can fit two cars in my back um in the back parking spot i couldn't
i never the space that's where the garage would actually be a car would never be able to fit
there i might have to go out of this i had to send the um the tax certificate separately
sent that already yes actually it should be in the same document but one second
but hillary we're complying am i correct
yes we we receive it we've received that for acquired documents yep okay so why don't you
show us what you have right there okay so this is the plans of the property um this is the
that's where you put the door up at the garage yes so right here is where the door was this
the first picture that we've seen below that was this in a larger form but this is the actual
plans of the property the layout um i believe on here it also shows this the spacing of that
parking area okay
um i know my panel right here is blocking my view i don't know if you guys can see that as well
we see it okay if are you able to see my cursor hovering we can yeah sure so right here is i guess
the spacing of the the parking the 18 right and so that would be what is
and you're saying other people in the block also park back there yes and then so tell tell us also
So what happened when you went to the RCO meeting?
So I sent out a notice to over, I think, 50 members in the area because I'm stuck.
I'm in between two different, I guess, the RCOs, like the neighborhood.
So I sent them out and there was only, I believe, nine attendees and four votes.
So only four of them, I believe, voted.
We have a record here that six voted.
Oh, six voted?
six voted in support okay okay all right all right questions from the board
what's the what's the basement being used as it looks like you've got a full kitchen down there
they say that one more time let's look at your plan it looks like you have a full kitchen
so this my just my space there's no other person living in my home it was just that's how it kind
it wasn't i just updated it oh so when you bought it it was like that oh it was like a summer
kitchen that's what they're calling it a summer kitchen with like the the refrigerator and the
stove um it's just my washer and dryer it's just open space there's not any additional use i'm not
asking for a separate zoning for a separate living it's a full bathroom there too i'm sorry
I say that again?
All bathrooms shown on your plan.
A tub and a.
Because, yeah.
So the upstairs is really small.
So this is a ranch style home.
So there was no tub in my upstairs living.
Thank you.
Other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair, Meg Kavanaugh for Planning Commission staff.
Thank you, Chair.
Matt Kavanaugh for Planning Commission staff.
Yes, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA to residential single-family zoning at this location.
The appellant seeks to legalize parking in the required rear setback served by a shared rear alley, which is a common condition on this block.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the variance.
Thank you.
MI 2023-002-596-3023, Welsh Road, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes
Earl Gaston, my vote is yes
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes
Tywin, my vote is yes
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes
James Snow, my vote is yes
Could you vote one more time?
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes
Thank you
You have your votes
Thank you.
Number 18.
MI-20...
I'm sorry, Mr. Chair.
Yeah, sure.
We checked, and we just need to read the continuance for number eight into the record.
We believe it was missed.
So, will you just go back to number eight?
And read that.
Thank you.
MI-2023-002-401-1941 North 32nd Street.
Case has been continued.
Number 18, MI 2023-007-207-2222 North 16th Street, Harry Cooper and Norman Cooper are the owners.
There's a letter of support from North Central Susquehanna, Philadelphia, CDC with provisos.
Mr. Cooper.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, I have a hand up from a number ending in 5842.
Let's see who it is.
Let's see who it is.
Caller at 5842-601-U.
Good morning, Chair.
Hi, good morning.
Could you state your name and spell for the chorisonographer?
Norman Cooper, N-O-R-M-A-N-C-O-O-P-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Can you put your video on, please?
I can. I'm actually on a military computer right now.
Are you going to be able to present your plans?
Yes. I can share my screen, but I can't show my background.
Hillary, we're okay with that, right?
That is fine, Mr. Chair. He has been sworn in.
So, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, tell the truth, nothing but the truth?
This application is for the demolition of a rear one-story structure and the erection of an addition above an existing attached structure for use as a multiple-family household living, three units.
The proposed use multifamily living is prohibited in the RSA 5 zoning district.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning, sir.
have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to
proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes sir thank you sir please proceed
and share your screen okay now how do you do this on this work should be a dream
i'm sorry to interrupt you uh mr shaheed mr chair but um i'm unable to promote to a
caller to a panelist at this time?
Yeah, because he's on the phone, right?
I'm also on Zoom, too.
How about you raise your hand
on the Zoom?
Okay, I can raise my hand on Zoom.
I'm sorry.
Norman Cooper will now be rejoining
as a panelist. Yes.
Mr. Cooper?
Mr. Cooper, could you please
unmute yourself?
Or I'm having trouble with it again.
Mr. Cooper, you're allowed to speak on a phone device.
Mr. Cooper, you're allowed to speak on a phone device.
Could you please speak?
Yeah, it wouldn't let me speak, and I guess when you promoted me,
it took away my video.
Okay, so now I should be able to start sharing?
Please.
Okay, so we see your documents.
You're just going to have to open them up now, okay?
Okay, so you want me to read them all first
or just start opening them up?
Why don't you open them up and tell us what you have?
Okay, this one here is the deed.
Okay, but I'm saying, can you open that up?
It is, oh, you know what?
I got four screens in here, I'm sorry.
This is the deed.
With me and my father.
Mm-hmm.
You need to see the whole thing?
Yep, we do.
We'll go on to your next document.
It's your petition for appeal, right?
This is the email confirmation.
It's a tax clearance.
I'm sorry, I just got to drag it over from my other screens.
Yeah, it's fine.
that's clarence yeah we're good
why don't you show some photos why don't you show some photos okay
yeah i'll actually put the photos in a pdf because right sure i mean the images they were
they were too large all right so that's the property that's the property right and and
And you want to create, you're going to tear down the rear, is that right?
No, see that white, can you see my cursor?
Yep, that's coming in, right?
So just that white shed.
Then you're going to put an addition on there?
On top of here.
So on these properties, the third floor doesn't come all the way back.
It's like a half of a third floor.
So we just want to bring the third floor back to here.
Okay, and you're taking that white?
Taking this out, correct.
I can show you on the plans.
You want to go through more?
You want to go to the plans, and right now that's a single-family home?
That's correct.
Let me see.
So these are the plans.
I probably should have showed you the one with the demolition to show what area was coming up.
But basically, it just makes all three floors the same width and height.
So on the other floors, it's just – they all have a rare bedroom straight up and down.
But let me show you the one that shows where the demolition is.
Sure. Why don't you do that?
so this area here is the one story that i'm about to be demolished that's the bay window
and the addition is just on top of the second floor make the third floor come on come all the
back okay how many more properties on your block are multiple family the whole um east side of the
block is already zoned like the block has different zoning on different opposite sides
of the street so the east side that whole zone is multifamily but and you're you're on the
we have to go through it individually right but there are multiple units on the west side too
correct correct yes
tell me about the rco meeting the rco meeting let me i can pull up their letter
The RCM meeting went good.
I think the only – the major concern is trash,
and they put provisions in here to address that.
They put maximum apartments, but they put some stuff that they want us to put in the plans
as far as noise reduction and stuff like that.
debris but but they're the biggest thing was trash on the block okay making sure
so they want you trash stored in the rear yard that's part of your proviso
correct correct okay all right questions from the board
no question how big is the ray yard uh i think that's on the drawing and is that where you
plan on putting the trash yeah when they bring up the it's not you
when they bring up
it's not used for no community stuff
or nothing like that so that's where
it's going to be
why don't you bring it up one more time the backyard
so that white that's coming out
the back that comes down right
so it's going to be
actually all of this plus this now
so like it's about 14
because that's actually
hanging over like the steps
so all of this will be the rear yard
but now only the first floor
has access to the rear yard though right
well we're
the architect is going to I'm not sure
if he's on he's going to make provisions
because there is there's there's there's no
properties next to us
so he's going to make provisions so everybody can have access
a lot of you don't own that
today tomorrow maybe something on it yeah well there's there's an ollie too um so i guess the
question is is are have you made provisions that that trash will be stored in the units until trash
day on the second third on the second third floor they're going to most likely so the rco gave us
gave us a couple options one um to kind of do something out front um or um use the uh rear
yard the rear yard now it yes it is open and it has a there is an alley too um and i mean honestly
That's like a common issue, but even for the single families, a lot of people use the rear yards
and go to the ollies for the multi-units.
But the other provision that they had us put in there also was to use trash compactors
so the stuff would, you know, last a week.
And I do have other properties.
I have a couple of commercial properties, and we do – I do have pickups, too, on some of those properties, so that was something that we also considered.
Other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Anderson?
Just briefly, Mr. Cooper, the RCO had a couple of provisos.
one you mentioned um the the trash storage options um would be the one that would be most
readily enforceable by the zoning board um would be trash stored in the rear yard i know there was
a suggestion of some sort of thing in um a container in the front um to hold the trash
till trash day um i don't know that that's something that we could provide zoaks we might
run into being in the right of way and that sort of thing um but the other the other proviso um was
no household living in the basement um is that something that you are agreeable to
yeah we only we only um put this in for three family dwelling on the um three floors so those
preliminary plans is only for the three floors so um the the actual basement is probably used for
utilities at warden okay all right thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any further answer mr chair planning commission
thank you meg cavanaugh for planning commission staff uh the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the rsa 5 residential single-family zoning at this location the proposed multi-family
living with three dwelling units is consistent with several properties on the block that have
permits for multifamily use. The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the
variance for three-family household living. MI 2023-007-207-2222 North 16th Street,
I vote yes with proviso. No household living in the basement, trash stored in rear yard.
Can I add to that proviso? You most certainly can. That the units that are both that don't have
direct access to the rear yard
have trash storage
within the unit until trash day.
Okay, so we'll do that again.
MI 2023
007 207
222 North 16th Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
No household living in the basement.
No household living in the basement, trash stored in rear yard, second and third floor capacity to store trash until trash day.
trash stored in rear yard second
Tip pick up.
Yes, I think to clarify, so interior trash storage for second and floor units, trash stored in rear yard for first floor unit.
Is that?
So you say it like that, Mr. Chair.
So no household living in the basement.
trash stored in rear yard
for first floor or second
and third floor trash stored in unit
until pickup
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with provisals.
Cheryl
Gaston, my vote is yes with
provisals.
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes with provisals.
I'm sorry.
Go ahead, Ty.
my vote is yes with provisos
James Snell
my vote is yes with provisos
Ishmael Shahid my vote is yes
with provisos
thank you
thank you you have your vote
thanks so much
number 12
MI 2023
006 340
5401 Regent Street
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Letter of support from the 51st Ward RCO.
Mr. Nockamson.
They'll be coming back in as a panelist, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the board.
Alan Nockamson.
Just for the record, Mr. Nockmson, spell your name.
Yes, A-L-E-N, last name is Nockmson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N, and I'm representing Nijista Jibriwet, the owner of the property.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Thank you.
Good morning, counsel.
do you agree to leave the reading of refusal or stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed
in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in
advance of this hearing oh we have thank you counsel please proceed and share your screen
all right so i'm here to present 5401 regent street uh it's a corner property
uh the it's the corner of uh regent and 54th street uh and um we're looking to legalize
uh this uh duplex which has been the duplex uh for almost 60 years uh so first we'll review
the notice of refusal then we have a letter of support from the 51st democratic board this
property is located in the southwest section of the city then we'll review the property history
I have a zoning permit showing this property, I believe, has been multifamily since the 60s.
Then also the listing.
My client purchased a property in 2018, and it was RM1 at that moment, and it was advertised that way.
But then you'll review the next exhibit, which is the Philadelphia zoning legislation,
which changed the zoning classification of the property from RM1 to RSA5.
And why is that important?
So my client is an elderly woman.
Her son, Ephraim Syum, started taking over the family business,
including the rental of properties of this sort.
And my client wasn't knowledgeable in terms of, you know, rental licenses and such.
and Ephraim, you know, tried to get a rental license for this property. And again, it's been
a two unit forever. It's configured as a two unit. And then that's when he discovered that,
you know, he needed to go through this variance process and, you know, get, you know, legalization
of this duplex. There's one unit that's occupied. My client has purposefully not rented out the
other unit. And they actually obtained a rental license just for the one unit. So at least they're
legal for the one unit but they're trying to you know again legalize this duplex that has been a
duplex for some time we'll then review after after the legislation we'll review the maps of the area
both the zoning map as well as maps google maps we are behind essentially a supermarket
uh behind essentially um a supermarket um and we're across the street from a senior citizen's
uh living facility uh so again you'll see that it's kind of out of character um you know to
you know for this duplex not to exist especially given its its long history then we have interior
photographs of the property and then photographs the exterior of the property simple floor plans
to show, you know, what's going on here.
Again, my client hasn't made any changes
to the configuration of this property
after purchasing it.
And you'll also see from the floor plans
and from the pictures,
there's an entryway,
exterior entryway for each unit.
So there's an entryway on 54th Street
and there's an entryway on Regent Street,
one for each unit.
And then trash would be stored out in the back
and we can agree to that as a proviso.
And then we have our RCO meeting notice or application for appeal, the deed to a property, and a certificate of tax clearance.
At the conclusion of my presentation, my client is not this most sophisticated person in technology-wise.
So she's going to have her son, Ephraim, who now manages the properties, testify and adopt my testimony as his own.
So the notice refusal, we're an RSA 5 property, but in name only.
This property has been multifamily for many generations, and my client's just looking to legalize this.
So the letter of support, we have a letter of support from 51st Democratic Ward in Southwest Philadelphia.
And then the property history, as you can see, this property has been a duplex since 1966.
And then even the listing itself, when my client purchased this property in 2018, indicated that it was a two unit.
At the time, it was a two unit.
Legally, it was an RM1 property.
So there was nothing wrong with it.
The issue is the legislation the following year changed the zoning classification to RSA 5.
This is a corner property, and just they reclassified, you see here, we're at the corner of Region 54th.
If you look at all of 54th and all of Region, that was RM1.
Even across the street was RM1.
What they did was they changed the zoning classification or region on both sides of the street.
But really what probably should have happened is that at the very least, these properties on 54th, all of them should have remained R1, including my own, my client's property.
But, you know, right here is where the shopping center is.
And across the street right here is where the senior citizen's living facility is.
And then the maps of the area too, you know, again, you know, this strip is RSA 5, but there is RM1 here, the CMX 2 here, and the mix of zoning classifications as well.
And again, as you can see here where we are, you know, again, there's the, you know, there's a family home and I'm kind of disoriented here, but there is a shopping center with a supermarket right behind us.
And I think the pictures will at least show the parking lot of it.
And then the interior photos, again, one resident is living in one of the units.
We purposefully kept the other unit unoccupied because my client wants to keep it legal.
At the time that they've, since they've owned it, they didn't realize that they needed a rental license.
And if they would have got a rental license, as soon as they purchased it, we wouldn't be in this situation.
And they sincerely apologized.
They just didn't know what they didn't know.
And it wasn't until Ephraim took over that they realized the gravity of the situation.
But you'll see there's that.
And then this is the property from region.
So one unit, the upper unit, you go up, and we'll see the floor plans, but you go up this, go in the front door, go up a flight of steps.
Unit number two is on the second floor.
And then you can see here, it's not the best photo, but there's an exterior entryway for unit number one.
You can also see here that there is more than enough room for trash to be stored in the rear.
And then there are zoning hearing notice postings.
So from both public streets.
And then regions to the right of the property, to the left of the property, 54th Street to the right of the property.
and here's the parking lot where the um where the supermarket is and then 54th street till
left of the property and then our plans and drawings this is just the lower level of the first unit
And then there are plans and drawings. This is just the lower level of the first unit. But how it starts out is you come out this front door, which is on 54th Street. You come into a kitchen area, and then you have a separate living room area here, and then you have a one bedroom.
If you go down the flight of steps, you know, it's just, you know, a place to, you know, for storage and a half bath.
The full bath is, oops, the full bath is right here for that unit plus the bedroom.
If you want to go to unit number two, this is the front of the property where that entryway is.
You go up a flight of steps.
And then unit number two also has its own floor, and it's two bedrooms, one bath.
Our RCO meeting notice, it went to 84 addresses.
These are the addresses.
This is the proof of mailing to those addresses.
Our application for appeal that we filed on the property owner's behalf, along with the notice of refusal and the project information form.
deed to property showing that my client owns the property since 2018 prior to the change in
zoning classification from RM1 to RSA5, and our Certificate of Tax Clearance. My client pays all
of her taxes to the city and meets all of her obligations. So again, it was an intention that
she did not get the rental license. With that being said, I'm going to unshare my screen.
I want to ask that Ephraim virtually raise his hand, and we would be more than happy
to take any questions from the board.
They've been allowed to speak.
Good morning, Ephraim.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Ephraim, E-P-A.
E-P-A.
Last name is S-U-R-E-P-A.
Ephraim, could you do it one more time?
You're breaking up a little bit.
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed counsel yes uh ephraim you you heard everything i had to state today about
your zone e-matter yes that was perfect thank you and is it true and correct
sorry is it true and correct what i stated true yep true right yeah and do you adopt as your own
testimony yes and specifically this you know the fact that you didn't get a rental license until
now that was not intentional right yeah that was unintentional thank you questions from the board
thank you all right comment is generally similar to other comments i made that second floor unit
doesn't quite work it's just two bedrooms and a kitchen it's not really a living space
so that's my only comment thank you other questions or comments
I'm sorry
I'm not sure what that is in the background
Ephraim I think that's you
can you mute yourself
I'm sorry
I'm sorry
I've got two questions
so one
were there tenants in this
property when it was purchased
yes the answer is yes
So when my client discovered, so there was only one tenant when he was seeking to rent a license.
So he got a rental license for one unit and then purposefully did not add a second tenant in there.
So and to go to Mr. Johns's comment about the second floor, this is how the property was configured when he purchased it.
And this property has been a two unit since 1966.
66. So this is not an illegal conversion on his part. He purchased it this way. It was an RM1
property when he purchased it. It was legal at that time. It was advertised for sale at that
time. He, you know, when the son took over, he was trying to get the rental license. And then
that's when he discovered that the zone, that he couldn't get it. Like he just thought, oh,
it was advertised this way. He didn't know the difference between RM1 and RSA5. He's been
educated about this process, but if the zonie didn't change, he would have been able to get
this as of right. And what are we doing about trash storage and disposal? So the trash would
be stored in the rear, and we would agree to that as a proviso. This is a corner property,
so there's ample room in the rear for a covered trash container system.
for a covered uh uh trash container uh system and both um units have access to the rear of
this property for yes they did that yes they do as a corner property they do they do all right
thank you other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson
not at this time mr share questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no further answer mr chair mr chair one one other comment i would make you know in terms
of our hardship it would forget about the financial devastating aspect of just having
one tenant in there um the cost involved to reconfigure this property from a duplex to a
single family would be cost prohibitive and i do believe there's legal grounds that would exist
based on the history of this property
and the cost to reconfigure this property
to allow for this board to grant it
based on that hardship alone.
Thank you.
Planning Commission.
Hi, Meg Cavanaugh for Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the RSA-5 residential single-family zoning
at this location,
although this property has documented use
as a two-family dwelling unit.
The City Planning Commission recommends
Board grant the proposed use variance for two dwelling units. Thank you. MI 2023-006-340-5401
Regent Street. I vote yes with proviso. Trash stored in rear. Michael Johns, my vote is yes
with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with
proviso iowen my vote is yes with proviso james snell my vote is yes with proviso
ishmael shaheed my vote is just with proviso thank you counsel could you please stay on
thank you number 16 mi 2023 006 841 5601 north park avenue mr knockamson is the attorney
No RCO letter, but notice was sent to near neighbors with proof of mailing.
The meeting was held on August 19th.
Mr. Chair, there's an update.
We actually received a letter from the RCO this morning from Concerned Community Association.
The letter did indicate support with some provisos that I'm sure Mr.
Nockamson will discuss, and then I can explain what I believe the board could enforce if the
board decides to grant. Thank you. Also, the applicant has provided a petition and support
signed by approximately 14 neighbors. Our vice chair, Mr. Nockamson, could you identify your
client? Yes, my client is Miranda Welch, the owner of the property. Okay. And our vice chair has a
questions good morning council do you agree to either read another refusal or stipulate to its
accuracy i do have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that's needed
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes we have thank you council
Please proceed on the share screen. Thank you.
Hi. So I'm here to present 5601 North Park Avenue.
This is an RSA 5 property. I will say that the Philadelphia 2035 plan recommends that this property be converted to a CMX 2 property, which would allow what's there to be, or at least what's proposed to be allowed as of right.
This is on the corner of North Park and Alney, and we're a half a block essentially off of Broad Street, where there is the train station stop for Alney and Broad.
So first of all, we'll review the notice of refusal.
And then we do have correspondence that came in this morning from a concerned community association, a conditional support of this project or this use.
I don't know if Sandra from ACCA is on, but we'll go through the letter and the provisos.
We also had community outreach by my client where they have a petition of a little more than a page of people in support of what we're seeking.
This property has a long history of mixed use.
Commercial on the ground floor, configured commercial on the ground floor, you'll see substantial.
This property is for the lot size is 4,300 square feet.
Upper floors have always been residential and we have legal residential use of.
Upper floors have always been residential, and we have legal residential use of three units.
The only thing we're trying to do is legalize the commercial use on the ground floor, and we'll talk about what we're seeking.
There's a hair salon right now, and we're seeking to do allowable retail use for, hopefully, a tenant, and then allowable office use, hopefully, for a tenant.
But you'll see from the use registration permit that this has a long history of mixed use.
And then you'll see the rental license.
Again, not the subject of this appeal, but I always like to show you, hey, there are parts of here that which are not subject to this appeal.
But my client is doing the right thing, got a rental license for three units and has maintained that rental license.
And as I indicated early on, while this property is RSA-5 right now, the Philadelphia 2035 document, which is the Upper North Plan, because that's where we are, proposes or recommends that the property be CMX-2, which based on what we're proposing for the commercial use would be allowed as a right.
Then we'll review maps of the area and, you know, or a map, a map, a zoning map, and as well as a Google map of the area.
Then we'll have interior residential photographs.
Again, not the subject of our appeal, but this is what we showed the community.
So I try to keep it pretty, like, you know, straight and narrow where whatever we show the community, we show the boards.
Same thing with the interior commercial photographs and the photographs of the surrounding area and the exterior of the property.
Simple floor plans, our RCO meeting notice, we just had the meeting, I believe, on Monday.
So we really appreciate ACCA for squeezing us in before this meeting.
Our RCO meeting notice will show proof of mailing of that notice as well.
Our application for appeal to the ZBA, our deed to the property, showing that my client, Miranda, owns the property as well as a certificate of tax clearance.
At the conclusion of my presentation, I will ask Miranda to virtually raise her hand, to be sworn in, and I have a few questions for her.
So the notice of refusal for this RSA 5 property, what we're looking to do is we're looking to do for business and professional.
So that's in the office use.
And then retail.
So we have two types of retail.
Retail sales of consumer goods and retail sales of wearing and apparel and accessories.
And then finally, we have commercial services, personal services, excuse me, on the ground floor.
There's an existing hair salon there that we're trying to legalize that use as well with all other uses, you know, to be confirmed, which is the upper floors are residential in nature.
And then our refusals have all to do with the fact that we're trying to put commercial use in technically a residential property.
But you'll see, well, we'll go first through the letter that we received from ACCA, but you'll see through the permit that we'll show you that previously approved for this property, it has a significant commercial past.
So we met with ACCA, and these are their provisos. Use to three commercial units. I mean, that's, you know, we agree to that in the sense of we have broken out three commercial units. I don't know if we need to do that, but we have no objection to that.
Use limited to business categories as defined by and agreed by applicant, of course, because if we go outside the bounds of those requirements or what we're asking for, we would have to come back.
A stipulation for no sale of food, groceries, smoking materials, and no drug rehabilitation, no video game machines.
So again, I defer to the board. We have no objection to a proviso of that sort, but I don't know if that's an enforceable proviso because we're asking for X. And if we do Y, we have to come back here. And what's, you know, in terms of sale of food, groceries and such, that would require an additional variance request and review process.
Yes. Hours of operation limited to 7 p.m.
So my client originally proposed to have 9 p.m. as the closing time, especially the hair salon.
It's an African-American hair salon that deals with braiding, which takes a long time.
The clientele for the hair salon and what we're hoping for the other, the retail and the office, like that clientele.
um is work is this a working uh working community where people you know come from work afterwards
to do whatever they need to they you know they have family obligations as well we understand
We understand that we don't want things open, you know, you know, unlimited.
that we don't want things open you know you know unlimited um but
But, you know, especially with the hair salon, you know, that the braiding takes a while.
So if someone comes from, you know, finishes up work at like, say, five o'clock and then they have to go to the hair salon, that can take a few hours.
So we defer to the board, you know, in terms of when the closing time for all these businesses should be.
But we're asking if, you know, if the board feels so inclined to put hours of operational limitation, we would ask for eight o'clock.
We originally proposed nine. We're always willing to work with the community.
We just want these businesses to be successful. Right.
So I think eight o'clock is a fair time, but we defer to the board in that respect.
And then commercial trash collection at the rear of the property. No objection.
We have we're fine with that. And then there is express concerns.
concerns. There's unpermitted signage on the commercial aspects. This is the signage that
existed prior to my client purchasing the property. If there's any new tenants in there,
I'm sure they're going to change the signage and will obviously require these new tenants to
fulfill whatever obligations they need to do any filings, zoning permit filings or building permit
filings to put new signage that's legal, you know, according to the law. And let's see,
one small heater and hot heater proposed to remain. So I don't know about that, that Sandra
can, if she's on, she can mention that. And the property exterior is overgrown and unmaintained.
I don't know if we agree with that, but we will do a better job of maintaining it if that's the
case. But my client takes great pride in her property. So the petition, again, my client
walked around the neighborhood and tried to get solicited as many signatures as possible within
the affected area. And then you can see here, just as an example, there was a dentist office
and such and different offices and different commercial use as far back as 1954. And you'll
see how the property is configured, this is a mixed-use property. It may say it's an RSA-5
property, but if you look at it, it's a mixed-use property. And then, again, more zoning permits,
just as an example of the commercial use or uses of this property in the past.
And then just a rental license. Again, my client is legally using the three residential units above
the commercial portion or at least proposed commercial portion and then the 2035 plan here
if you look right here the proposal is or recommendation is to make this a cmx2 property
which makes sense it's corner property the lot size is almost 4 300 square feet and the way it's
configured you'll see that it's commercial on the ground floor and residential above
of. And then maps of the area. Yes, we are all RSA 5 here, but we're on ALNI and there's a lot
of commercial use here. And then right here is where you have North Broad Street. And as you
can see here, here's North Broad Street. Here's ALNI. So yes, does it transition into a residential
neighborhood yes but right here not so much so it's usually good to again transition from higher
commercial use or density to smaller commercial use and density to eventually residential single
family and what we anticipate is that the people who are using our commercial space
will be individuals who live in the neighborhood and then this is our interior photographs for
Apartment 1, Apartment 2, Apartment 3, and the interior for the commercial.
This would be the office space that's currently unoccupied.
Obviously, we're cleaning it up, assuming someone rents it out.
the retail space
and then the hair braiding or hair salon space
and this is photographs of the property from north park street and that's where you go up just steps
to go residential and this is the property in 2012 as well showing that there's nothing been
to change in this property for the longest period of time.
These are orange notice posters from both North Park Avenue
as well as Omni Street.
And then you can see, oh, I thought someone said something.
This is the hair braiding place, the hair salon.
This would be the office.
This would be the office. And then this would be the retail space.
And then this would be the retail.
As you can see, like this is defined commercial space.
So in terms of our hardship, it would be a substantial expense to convert.
Well, we only have three units, right? And this is RSA 5.
We would then have to come back here potentially to even get more residential units, which I don't think is appropriate here.
I think that this is good to find commercial space.
It's been configured as such for well over a generation, and it's been used that way for many generations.
We're just trying to legalize specific uses that we hope tenants will come in here.
This used to be a cleaners.
This used to be a cell phone, like a sales place.
And then this has been a hair salon for the longest period of time.
And then you can see this in 2015 as well.
So this is when I think this was a cleaner's cell phone place.
And then you can see that this has been a hair salon.
And then this is North Park to the right of the property, to the left of the property.
As you can see here, that's the Alney train station on Broad Street.
West Alney to the right of the property, West Alney to the left of the property.
Our plans and drawings, again, more so the first floor unit.
We have plans we can always review the residential aspects, but here's the hair braiding, hair salon place.
Here's the office. And then here's the retail. Those are three defined spaces.
We're not changing the configuration of them. Our RCO meeting notice.
So the ACCA, the coordinating RCO, asked us to provide a more tailored community meeting notice, which we gladly did.
We sent that notice to 49 properties.
These are a list of the properties.
This is proof of mailing to those properties.
Our application for appeal that we filed on Miranda's behalf, or she filed it and we took over.
The notice of refusal.
And then finally, our deed showing that she owns the property.
And then finally, the certificate of tax clearance.
I'm going to unshare my screen.
I would ask that Miranda virtually raise her hand and be sworn in.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell the court sonographer?
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Miranda Welch.
Hi, could you spell your name, please?
That's M-I-R-A-N-D-A, last name Welch, W-E-L-C-H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Yeah, Miranda, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
And is it true and correct what I stated?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
questions or comments from our attorney hillier emerson not at this time mr chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i have a hand raised from sandra broadest i have allowed them to speak
sure uh good morning good morning could you state your name and spell it for the court
sonographer sure it's sondra s-a-n-d-r-a broadest last name b-r-o-a-d-u-s do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do hi please proceed um i am um
the chair for ACCA, the coordinating RCO for this property. We did meet with this applicant
and representative from Mr. Nockmson's office on Monday. We have been following this case,
I say almost a year now, six months for sure, because the original refusal
suggested about five different uses, which was then amended to three, which was amended then
to a more general language that concerns us. The property, 5601 North Park Avenue,
is directly across the street and shares the intersection with the very, very busy and
infamous Broad and Not Only transportation hub where thousands of people commute on a weekly
basis there. And the block itself, 5601,
And the block itself, 5601 North Park Avenue, is a residential block where the small and long-term families that have been there, that remain there, have been ACCA's eyes and ears for the Broad-Nalney Corridor for over a decade.
They've been very helpful and instrumental in other matters regarding Broad-Nalney issues.
Our concern is this. One, the property has a long history of commercial use because it's directly within the realm of the Einstein Hospital area of businesses.
And so the commercial use has, in fact, been mostly doctor's offices.
And then it stabilized for years as two units, which were a shoe shop and a cleaners.
Those uses were pretty much safe, comfortable, and non-assuming to the residents as well as the Broad Nolny Corridor.
Over the years, directly across the street from this property is the hub of drug sales, nuisance bar, and open prostitution, and it is not safe after dark.
And so our concern is not just for the neighbors that live on Park Avenue, our concern is for the thousands of people that have to commute back and forth along that corridor after dark because they take the public transportation, both the bus lines that run up and down, and also the subway.
So, whereas we are comfortable with, we prefer two units, but we would like a commitment of a limit of three, we need those uses stipulated, and we feel as though that third revision of the refusal kind of muddles that it doesn't specifically state that it will be limited to three units.
we realized and that the long-term neighbors tell us they remember when the property was converted
from two to the various units that are in there. We do not want it assumed that multiple businesses
can operate in that space simply because it is not clearly stated. Also the applicant seemed
as though they were, she was in agreement with us that certain types of businesses were suitable
and certain types of businesses were not. The whole entire corridor of the, I mean, the whole
entire block up the street is a lot of food services and things like that. There's always
problems. There's, so we would like that the businesses to be unassuming and not causing
any additional traffic, especially after dark. We went through the internet and pulled up
clothing stores and hair salons and even offices throughout the 19141 area, and they all pretty
much close by 7 o'clock, and notably, especially the hair salon. The hair salon is on the internet
advertised as they have closing hours advertised at 6 o'clock. And to be honest, hair salons,
especially after dark, are always getting held up. Those of us who frequent them know that there is
a danger and that corner is especially dangerous. We feel as though seven o'clock is a fair time
and a safe time for the businesses, the people that patronize the businesses to close. Because
the property is broken up into what we counted as four rooms, we want it clear that four rooms
does not mean that four businesses are allowed, that we want clarity that there are three
businesses. We ask that the trash be professionally picked up. There has been a lot of work on the
part of ACCA and the neighbors, especially on that block, working with Sherrell Parker
to keep Broad and Olney clean. They have a certain, a special task force of cleaning folks
that come through there. So we don't want these commercial uses to add trash to
on the avenue at all.
We want them to get professional commercial trash pickup,
commercial trash pickup, not just put the trash out on Olney Avenue on trash day.
not just put the trash out on the avenue.
I don't think that that is appropriate.
And just trying to make sure I remember everything that we asked for.
But our main concern are the hours, the uses, and the stipulation of the number of units.
We want that clarified in the zoning that is provided for that property.
I'm sorry. I was like, when I have, can I have an opportunity to just respond quickly? Why don't we see if there's anyone else? All right. Miss Brodus, thank you for your interest in your time. Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I do not see any further hands, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Notkinson. Yeah, I just want to quickly respond to Sandra. We have no objection to limiting it to three units. We have no objection to the prohibited conduct or uses. Again, I don't know if it's necessary, but I'll defer to the board, but we have no problems, you know, specifying in terms of proviso in that respect.
We have no objection to stating on the record and via proviso for commercial trash pickup.
In terms of the hours of operation, again, we would prefer to have 8 p.m.
Like originally, we would prefer to have 9 p.m.
But if we can, you know, I know Ms. Brodus wants 7.
I'm hoping the board can say to 8 o'clock.
Just again, because people are like Ms. Brodus stated, there are people in the community who use the broad and online line.
And taking public transportation, leaving work at five, it just makes it tight and hard, especially when you're dealing with, like, for instance, a hair salon to get properly serviced during the workday.
But we defer to the board in that respect as well.
Thank you.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Meg Kavanaugh for Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change from the existing zoning, RSA-5 Residential Single Family, to CMX-2 Commercial Mixed Use.
The proposed use is consistent with the CMX 2 zoning and with the longstanding use of the property.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the use variances with proviso for indoor trash storage.
Thank you.
Hillary, do you have a sense of where we want to be here with proviso?
Yes, Mr. Scherr.
So we could certainly, I believe the Board could certainly indicate a maximum of three commercial spaces.
And Mr. Notkinson, just to clarify, the refusal dated 3-18-24, that is the most current refusal.
Let me take a look.
So again, yes, we took over this file and we wanted to make sure that the refusal made sense.
That's why there was an amendment.
Let me just take a look to see the date that I have.
Let's see.
Okay, it is. The one that I presented to the board is March 18th. That's my understanding of the recent one.
Okay. All right. That's what I have. So we have a refusal dated 3-18-24. We can obviously set a closing time for the commercial uses. And then the commercial trash pickup to be from the rear of the property. Planning has also suggested interior trash storage as a proviso.
In terms of the uses that were mentioned that the community would not like to see, they are uses that would require, because of how the property is zoned, separate zoning approval and are not something that could be done under the current zoning approval.
um there was a question about um smoke smoke shop or tobacco sales um that is governed by
the health department um they determine whether whether those sales can occur or not so i don't
think the board um necessarily has jurisdiction there but like i said anybody who would like
wants to sell tobacco products has to go through the health department in order to get uh the
proper permitting for that so any any other questions mr chair no no we're fine mr chair
can i just interject about the trash so the trash you know again we have no problems with the
exterior trash and that can even extend uh you know to the residential i would say though that
If it was interior trash, I think these, you know, I don't think it's appropriate for commercial space, especially to use.
Um, I think these, you know, I don't think it's appropriate for commercial space, especially the uses that we're requesting. We're not asking for any type of food in the premises or stuff like that. So we would strongly ask that, you know, the trash be stored outside, uh, even for the commercial unit. But if the board feels so inclined to store the trash on the inside, I would say that should be limited to only the commercial unit. Again, the residential unit is not the subject of this appeal.
thank you um and question mr chair yes with respect to the uh commercial spaces and how they
might be used while it's true can we what what is there a way and i guess it's not you mr chair
But, Hillary, is there a way that we can say that, you know, they need to get a separate approval, mind you, for the commercial spaces?
So the way this refusal is written, it lists four specific uses that would be approved if the board were to grant this approval.
so if there are any other and the property is currently zoned rsa5 so if there are any of the
uses any other commercial uses are would require zba approval okay yeah yep all right oh so sorry
sorry sorry i'm sorry but there's so going down to three but you said there were four uses that
were approved but if we're if we if we do a proviso for three what does that mean i think
I think they can pick from the fork.
That's right.
And two of the uses involve retail sales that couldn't occur in the same commercial space.
That's what I was going to say, that we wanted a wide enough net for the retail space.
So our intention is to have one retail use in one space, office use in another, and then legalize the hair salon in a third.
Gotcha.
All right.
So MI 2023-006-841-5601 North Park Avenue, I vote yes, with proviso.
Refusal dated 3-18-24, maximum three commercial units.
closed by 7 p.m.
Interior trash stored for commercial units
and commercial pickup.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with provisos.
We're not doing anything about the hours.
I'm sorry.
It's 7 p.m.
Didn't I say that?
I said 7 p.m.
I'm sorry.
No, it's okay.
All right.
Then Cheryl Gaster, my vote is yes with provisos.
Senator Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, Mr. Nockermson.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called?
there are no hands chair all right thanks everyone see everybody at 2 p.m thank you
see y'all later
my name is good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be
sharing this afternoon's meetings with me is our vice chair ismail shaheed
he's here our board member james snell president mr chairman our board member
cheryl l gaston present mr chairman our board member tenetta graham present mr chairman board
member michael johns president mr chairman and our board member tya win also present
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our Deputy Director for Planning and Zoning, Kathleen Grady.
Here's our virtual format.
Proceedings are being recorded.
With your participation, you agree to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting Kathleen.Grady at phila.gov.
For a court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
5-5-4-8. Leave your email address and the address of the property in question. And finally, the
Leave your email address and address the property in question.
question box on the screen is not for testimony. All comments should be directed to our Deputy
Director, Kathleen Grady. Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon. Number three, MI 2024,
0-0-1-8-6-7-1112 Roy Street. That case is continued.
Number six.
MI 2024, 0-0-2-1-2-0-9-6-3 North Lawrence Street. That case is continued.
Number seven.
MI 2024-003-404-6915 North Broad, case there's a contingence request from Oak Lane Community Association.
Is Wayne Oliver in the audience?
Do we see Mr. Oliver?
All right, so MI 2024-003-404-6915, North Broad Street, that case is continued.
And number 13, MI 2024-003-727-535-Rawne Street, that case has been continued.
Is there any other requests for continuances?
I see wrong.
So, number five, MI 2024, 001-872-260 Geiger Road.
This is the second listing.
We do not have any exhibits.
Justin Crick is the attorney.
Mr. Crick?
All right, no hands up.
Okay. So MI 2024-001-872.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair. It's my understanding that Mr. Crick intended to request a continuance in this matter.
But I assumed from his email that he was going to be present, but I do not see him in the audience today.
Thank you. So MI 2024-001-872-260 Geiger Road. Cases continued. Mark must be heard.
We're going to go to our list.
MI 2024 001 795 4999 Linden Avenue.
John Griffin is the attorney.
There's a letter of opposition from the East Tarsdale Civic Association.
mr griffin
here there's a hand
i don't see
do we see mr griffin's hand i don't see john griffin there are two hands up the first one
it would be Mark Morrison. I'm not sure if he's
holding him. Mr. Griffin's
in the audience. I think
yep, there he goes. He's just raised his hand.
Can you hear me?
I can, Mr. Griffin. Yes, sir.
Could you please state your name and spell
for the court's sonography?
Yes, John Griffin
G-R-I-F-F-I-N
Do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth, Mr. Griffin?
I do, sir.
Could you please turn on your screen?
I thought I did that, but I guess I did not.
Did he go out and come back?
He's coming back.
I'm, uh, I'm okay.
Chairman, can you see me?
We cannot.
May I begin?
We need to see you.
And then we need to see your documents too.
Thank you, Mr. Griffin.
Can you see me?
We see you now.
Number one, could you identify your client?
Sure. My client is forty nine nine nine Linden Avenue.
And our vice chair has a few questions for you. Yes.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its adversity?
Yes, sir. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I did not do it five days in advance. I believe we did it on Monday morning, and there were some questions back about some additional exhibits to submit, and we have complied with that request.
Thank you. I believe we received everything. Please proceed and share your screen.
Mr. Griffin, just for a point, I did mention we have a letter of opposition from East Archdale Civic, okay?
Please proceed.
Chairman, can you see my screen?
We see you.
We need to see your documents now.
You've got to share your documents with us.
Let me go back and do that.
I think you have to bring your documents up,
and then you hit share screen.
You're coming up now.
Can you can you see that, sir? We see there's a letter to me. I'm not sure.
These are my documents all in order. Right. OK. So, chairman, this is a request for a zoning variance.
In essence, it is the seeking of a use permit for retail live poultry butcher shop that's at the property.
Of note, this would be the third such business for my client.
This board, not exactly these members, but this board had previously unanimously approved this type of business on two separate occasions at different locations.
One of them being in 2007, one being in 2018. These businesses are currently, as we speak, still in operation.
The retail live business, poultry business, I know that sounds like a handful, is a popular business, particularly with the Asian community.
uh so in essence as i explained in my letter the uh poultry primarily chickens ducks turkeys
are imported live three to four times a week and they come from a fairly well-known business
called Walk-in Supply, which comes out of Brooklyn, New York. This type of a business
is highly, and I emphasize the word, highly regulated by both the Philadelphia City Health
Department and notably the Federal Health Department. I can tell you from representing
these businesses previously, the level of scrutiny and mandatory compliance
by the feds is fairly remarkable. They are on top of this. So this, again, is a highly
regulated business. Interesting. The classification is RSA three, but there is a long history
of commercial usage. In essence, this business for the last, I'm going to believe seven or eight
years was a sort of a bait and tackle business and had been in the neighborhood and had been
a staple of the neighborhood for a long time. The hours of operation would be 8 to 5 p.m.
The hours of operation would be 8 to 5 p.m.
I explain in my letter a sort of like a menu as to what would be supplied.
There would be special freezers that are installed to eliminate any possibility of smells or lingering smells.
um we have a contract with republic services uh every single day trash is picked up at the end
of the day there is not a situation where trash lingers for days out which which frankly is
critical to a business like this we have seven parking spaces out front we have call-in options
The entire process, if you walked in from start to finish, would essentially be probably 15 to 20 minutes.
So, Mr. Chairman, I want to say something, and then I want to be as candid with the board as I can.
This is an entirely legal business.
These businesses exist in certain parts of the city.
And as I mentioned, this board, maybe not this composition of board, had previously approved two such businesses.
Now, with that said, the elephant in the room is that we had met with this RCO on two previous occasions.
There is no opposition, I think I can fairly say, to the use of this business for commercial purposes.
There is no opposition from the surrounding neighbors, including the next door neighbor who was present at the RCO meetings.
There is, however, to be fair, there is, however, a group of people that expressed opposition to this, not because of its legality or illegality, but because it's a business that some members of this community simply did not want in their community.
And the analogy that comes to mind from prior representations is the fact that there are times where there may be a perfectly legal tattoo business that opens in the area and there are a block of residents that just don't want a tattoo business.
This is a fairly unique niche business. And again, giving all due deference to the RCO, who, like I said, we met with twice. There are members of this RCO, and they treated us with great respect.
there are members of the RCO in the community that simply just don't want this kind of a business
in the community. But again, this is an entirely legal business, one that's been approved on at
least two other occasions by the ZBA board in Philadelphia. And I believe that is the only
glitch that i that i do believe exists so so let me let me go back a minute because
your earlier testimony you said you had seven parking places but don't you have a refusal for
parking we we do and i think we're addressing that okay because right now they're saying you
have zero proposed and you said you had seven we we have seven and and i and i think we can
sort of show that but we we would have seven parking spaces uh available that would be right
in front of the building understand the the building currently is vacant and there there
is a pending sale from the owner to my client i understand emphasis on the word pending
dependent upon this board's decision.
You have photos of the front of the building?
I do, I believe.
So we've gone through the refusal.
There is the front of the building,
or actually that may be the side of the building.
As you can see, there is plenty of space.
As you can see, there is plenty of space.
I'll put it right in this area if you can see me doing that.
If I use this photo right in this, which allows for seven individual parking spots right there.
This building, which used to be a bait and tackle business, is essentially the same business, but now vacant.
My understanding is that the gentleman that owned this business passed away.
His wife and family were present at the RCO meetings and expressed full support for this business.
There are other views.
That is the back of the business.
These are a down-the-street view of the business. If we circle right in front of that area, that's where the seven parking spaces would be, as we indicate.
Uh, these are the site plans that we had done. If you take a look at these site plans, we outline the seven parking spaces. Uh, these are located right in front of the building where we just sort of, uh, uh, just sort of went through.
These are, and we only use these for reference, these are photos of the two other businesses that the board had previously approved in 07 and 2018.
Uh, here is the trash removal contract with Republic services.
Um, again, this is, uh, uh, an every day removal.
This isn't Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, and then perhaps we get a long weekend.
So, uh, the, the, the bottom line, I guess is the easiest thing to say.
And I'm sort of giving kudos to my clients that they they have been there, done that.
This isn't a first foray into the business.
They they know how these businesses work.
And candidly, they they have been successful in these businesses.
The last thing here is the agreement of sale.
Hillary had some questions on this that I believe we clarified last night and this morning.
The sale has not taken place.
It is largely, if not totally, contingent upon the board's decision as to whether or not to grant a variance.
Our clients don't run any other businesses.
So if this didn't work, maybe we could turn it into a bakery. That's not the case. This is their business. This is how they make a living with their business mantra.
We represent in this matter, we represent the buyer in this agreement. We are not counsel for the buyer or the seller, but I can just give you an update on it with regard to that.
So my I guess in closing, Mr. Chairman, as I said, the only issue that I respectfully believe is an issue is that they're they're due.
There exists members. They are not next door neighbors, but respectfully, they are members of the East Tarsdale community that just don't want this kind of a business in their community.
It doesn't doesn't speak to the legality. It doesn't speak to dotting every I and crossing every T.
But but it does speak to a preference. And again, candidly, I said this the other day to a colleague of mine.
I might be a little bit easier if we were opening a bakery and giving out cupcakes to preschool children.
But but that's not what this is. This is a business that.
But that's not what this is. This is a business that concerns some people that I think we've done everything to address. And again, by history, the board has shown, as long as we dotted our I's and crossed our T's, that it would approve. And it has previously.
You bring your client on and adopt your testimony.
Giaje, are you there, please?
Okay, they have been allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Hi, can you hear me?
Okay, my last name is J-I-A-N-G.
And you can call me Giaje.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And you're the individuals in the process of trying to buy this property.
Is that correct?
That is correct, yes.
Okay, please proceed, counsel.
Giaje, just let me ask you just a few questions before I get to the ultimate questions.
I've represented that this property has not yet gone to settlement.
Is that correct?
It has not yet. The settlement is contingent on if we pass the variance from the board.
Okay. I just wanted to make sure I was representing that to the board
accurately. So my questions are, were you on this link when I was making this presentation?
We were. Yes, we were.
Okay. Did you understand everything that I presented?
Did I make this presentation accurately, consistent with our conversations in preparation for this Zoom hearing?
If I was to ask you, do you adopt what I said and my testimony as if it was your own?
And do you affirm that it was accurate as if you made these statements?
I have no further questions.
Questions from the board.
I have a question.
Just in terms of impact, is there a demand for this business in that particular area or a shortage of businesses like that in that particular area?
And where do you anticipate your customer base coming from?
Giaje, can you please answer that?
Yeah, absolutely.
So as Jake has mentioned during his presentation, we had owned and operated two separate businesses in the past.
And the demand is there.
The demand is huge.
I mean, we still have patrons to this day asking us to open another establishment like this because there is a demand from the public.
This is, I mean, we stand by our product.
we take great pride in it. We know that this, that fresh chicken just tastes better. It's,
it's equivalent, it's almost similar as fresh seafood. Like it tastes better than
the frozen box stuff that you get at like Weiss or Wegmans. So we stand by our products and the
demand is there. Giaje, to your knowledge, so that we can address the question, are you aware
of any other businesses similar to yours that exist in that particular area in that particular
area no um not at all and um that's one of the reasons why we um really wanted to scout a location
in this area because we know that it can serve on the population there and um it will serve um we've
primarily served a greater amount of Asian population, but amongst a very, a lot of
different diverse races and cultures. But that location in itself is very in high demand,
and it's easy for patrons to get to as well. And I represent it, and I trust that I did this
accurately. I represented that the previous owner of the business of Mr. Brinkman, he passed away,
Am I correct? Yes. Yes, he has. And and you have had contact and I represented that his family, indeed, his wife.
I met them. Children, they were present at the RCO meetings and they sort of fully support turning over the reins on this property and the sale to to you and your family.
Am I correct? That is correct. Yes. Do you know, GRJ, I know we requested, do you?
Yes. Do you know, G.R.J., I know we requested, do you know if they are on this Zoom? Do you know?
I think I think they are on the Zoom or they might be they might be attempting to register for it.
But they were on it earlier and they should be on standby.
So, so, Mr. Griffin, let me finish with the board first. Sure. Other questions from the board.
You said that you had daily trash pickup.
Does that mean that this is a seven-day-a-week operation?
And what are the hours of operation of that?
Ma'am, I can answer that.
We had that in the cover letter.
This will be a six-day-a-week business, and it will operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
There is no, the business is not open on Sundays.
Okay. And does, is this building a standalone building?
I couldn't tell you went by a little quickly with the pictures.
Is it a standalone building?
Is it the only property on that part of the block or what?
Ma'am, I apologize, but I just put it back up now.
So, Giaje, just confirm, this is a standalone building on the corner, am I correct?
That is correct.
It is a standalone building.
And how close is the next neighboring building?
I mean, is it, like, it's a little hard to.
The next neighboring building, I would think, would be this right here, which, Giaje, do you see me circling this?
I do, yes.
Is that a private home?
That is a private home, yes.
Is this the home of the gentleman that was present at the RCO meeting and expressed support for this business?
Do you know if that's where he lives?
So I can speak to that.
I'm sorry.
My name is Justin.
I'm also supporting him.
Hold on.
Hold on.
Hold on.
Hold on.
Let's finish.
Remember, Mr. Griffin, I'm talking to the board first.
Yes. Yes. All right. So I was just trying to get an idea of where this building is.
And then in terms of how you operate this business now, you do the are these customers or these individual customers or these businesses that maybe distribute these live tickets and they therefore come.
or livestock here, do they come with, say, trucks or vans or anything to pick up?
How do we, is this just a regular kind of business where these are sold to individuals?
rules? Or is this a distribution kind of operation where businesses would come and buy
this livestock? What are we talking about here?
Chiaja, you can answer that.
Okay. Yeah, I'd be happy to. So we are just retail strictly. We do not do wholesale. We do not do
distribution um and the reason why i say research strictly is because we just want to serve the
public that wants these products um they are individual customers they are just like your
next door neighbors or your aunt um people usually um most of our patrons um and through experience
they call and order ahead um and they are just like in and out in minutes they just call the
order ahead we prepare the products they come in they grab it and they go um nobody really stands
around very long okay and then with respect to the parking spaces where are these on here and
is there a curb cut how where we can you can you see my screen i can see it okay so starting let's
say right here this would start the line of the seven parking spaces so they would be right here
and if i come down a little bit um uh right to here uh that where i first had that line
we will call that parking space seven for lack of a better way of putting it
we have five spots in a row uh there's the entry and then we have two spots to the right of the
we have five spots in a row
entry so so i guess if i can kind of clarify that for you a little bit better um and again
I'm just sort of uh representing I would think seven six five four three entrance way and then
on the other side of the entrance way one and two and this is there's a curb cut there and there's
an approved curb cut there um parking would we help you so so Hillary that Hillary do we know
how that the five accessory parking places are required and zero are proposed do we know how
that became yeah refusal well there so this is a change of use application there was not
parking included as part of the application the plans that were shown um were not reviewed by
lni so any parking to lni this determined that there is no parking provided um a separate
application would be needed to establish the parking ah okay all right all right right thank
you any other questions from the board yeah i have a question about deliveries i'm assuming
that because this is a butcher shop that you'll be getting livestock delivered here and i just
wanted to walk through like what is the process where are they coming in loading out and what's
the scale of like delivery truck. Yeah. So you're right. We, they, we do get deliveries from a farm
up in upstate New York. They're called Watkins farm. I'm super reliable. We've been working for
them for like a decade, even more so. So we get deliveries four days a week during the week. It
depends on some actually you sometimes less when we are not that busy but they are always during
the afternoon um when there's just less traffic because um our uh previous two businesses are in
like the middle of center city so they've kind of worked with us around us to know when to deliver
so that it really uh it really prohibits that kind of traffic um issue which i know is um one of the
pressing concerns um but they are really quickly i mean like we they are so experienced we know the
drivers we get stuff delivered like i'm i'm literally talking about out to the gate down to
the ground and into our store in like 30 to 45 minutes max um they are not there for hours and
hours on end like you see some of these like trucks um they're they're in and they're out
like they know business we know the business it should it should not be an issue at all
thank you other questions from the board are the are the uh chickens outside outside at any time
i'm sorry i i couldn't hear you i'm sorry chickens left outside at any time oh no no the
chickens are never left outside they're always contained in in the store itself um chickens
they they don't do well outside anyways um we we've never tried that we never had that
So we've always kept them inside the store.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Just briefly, I just wanted to clarify, G.J., so I just, on the agreement of sale, I have the buyer listed as Zhu Zhenjiang,
and i just yes one wasn't sure who who that was in relation to the person who's been testifying
sure um susan jang um that that's my mom um i have her last name um my mom's right sitting next
to me right here okay yeah she just has very limited um english um and there's a language
uh issue here so that's why i'm just translating speaking with her but i mean i i work i worked in
the business right after I graduated
college, so I know the business like the back of my
hand. No problem.
I just wanted to clarify who
everyone was. Thank you very much.
Questions or comments from the virtual
audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair. I have
a Mark Morrison with a hand raised.
I've allowed them to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer?
Yes. My name is
Mark Morrison, M.O.
O-R-R-I-S-O-N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I am a member of the East Tarsdale Civic Association.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Okay. I am not your neighbor, but I am in the area. Please proceed, sir. Okay.
I am not a near neighbor, but I am in the area.
As a board member also of East Tarsdale, I attended both meetings.
The first issue on the refusal is the RSA 3 zoning, which according to the business that
they're going to run is supposed to be in an industrial setting there's a
plenty of industrial zone property around this current properly property
that's the first issue the second issue is the parking and State Road that is a
highly traveled intersection at State Road and Linden Avenue. There is a right
turn lane that puts people on the Linden Avenue and takes them up to Interstate
95. It's an extremely busy intersection. Secondly, as far as the parking is
concerned if you look at the map of the diagram of the parking there's a fire
hydrant in front of one of the spots and there are only two 11-foot curb cuts or
openings for parking so as far as people not wanting this type of business oh
The other thing is, is the dumpster that they're going to be using for the remains of their business is sitting out front of the property.
It's apparently a two or three yard dumpster and the trucks that come to empty those dumpsters are quite large.
Plus, a 30 to 45-minute delivery of their chickens would cause a tremendous amount of traffic backup on this location.
If these people wish to open their business, I don't think many of the neighbors would have too much of a problem with them if they were in a better location and that's zoned for the business that they're going to open.
Thank you, Mr. Morrison.
Thank you, Mr. Morrison.
Are there anyone else in the virtual audience?
yes so joe carson with their hand raised i have allowed them to speak sir
why could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer
sure my name is joe carson c-a-r-s-o-n i am the president of east arsville civic association
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth sir
yes i do please proceed okay a couple things uh the uh and i wanted to
to add value to what Mr. Morrison said,
the anticipated customer volume was 50 to 60 customers a day.
So keep that in perspective
with this very busy intersection,
people backing out onto State Road
with a partially obstructive view.
I think we're just begging for a mishap to occur.
The other challenge that we did not talk about
as during their presentation,
there were questions from the audience
germane to their other properties and publicly noted health code violations that the presenters
could not address or even seem to be aware of. So the compelling thought or feeling in the
discussion was that these were going to be absentee owners who were sort of out of touch
with what was going on on a day-to-day basis. And some of the violations that were there
were related to leaking dumpsters and refuse on the property.
So that sort of was a red flag for a lot of folks.
You're talking about the other properties they own?
Yes, sir.
And we were of the understanding that this is the management team that was doing it.
So is that what we're introducing to our neighbor?
The other thing is I don't really have a record.
I have the signature sign-in sheet for that.
I don't know who the near neighbor was who was supporting it.
I don't have that signed in in the documentation.
We document everything on our website, including who's at the meeting.
That's public for public consumption.
So I would just love to get a piece of clarity on that.
That's pretty much it, the safety issues.
that's pretty much it the safety issues all right thank you thank you for taking the time
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to cause.
to cause anyone else in the virtual audience yes i have a hand up from meson mariaz i have
allowed them to speak why could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
may sam riaz please unmute
so no one
they weren't able to unmute so i've moved on to a uh right now there's a daniel reynolds with
their hand raised i've allowed them to speak could you please state your name and spell for
the stenographer danielle reynolds could you spell your name please d-a-n-i-e-l-l-e reynolds
r-e-y-n-o-l-d-s you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes are you in favor this project or against absolutely in favor okay um could you give us
the reason why? Well, I wanted to address the one individual regarding the gentleman that owns the
properties right next door. That house that's sitting right next door to the empty building,
as well as the building right next to or behind that you cannot see is owned by Bill Brinkman,
who is the former owner of this building. This bait and tackle shop has been in business for
over 65 years in this location with the traffic in and out my husband Michael Reynolds owned
the building for almost six years he passed away last year we are selling that building
in contingency of the the board proving the traffic has always been a challenge but has
as most certainly was accepted as Mr. Griffin was saying, because it was a bait and tackle shop,
the traffic coming and going, we were open seven days a week. We were only closed two days,
Christmas and Thanksgiving for the last six years. Now, from what I understand,
Bill Brinkman never closed. They were open 365 days a year with the traffic. So Bill Brinkman,
His name is Bill Brinkman. He owns those buildings right next door to the building that I am selling.
All right. Thank you very much for taking the time to call us. Is there anyone else in the audience, Jason?
I missed it. Mason Rias, who had their hand up before, they had their hand up again. I will let them speak once in a while.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yeah. Can you hear me now?
I can.
Yeah, I'm sorry. I was a little miscommunication with the thing. Sorry about that previous one.
My name is Massim Riaz, M-E-H-S-A-M.
Last name is Riaz, R-I-A-Z.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
No, I'm not a neighbor.
Are you in favor of this project or against?
Yes, I'm in favor of this project.
And you're not a neighbor, but you're in favor?
Yeah. No, no, yes.
Could you tell us why you're in favor?
I'm in favor they're putting the poultry
there right
livestock meat
okay alright thank you very much we appreciate
Jason anyone else
hold on sir
okay there's Stan Chawinski
with the hand raised I have a lot of them
hi could you please state your name
and spell for the stenographer
can you hear me
yes could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
My name is Stanley Cywinski, S-T-A-N-L-E-Y, C-Y-W-I-N-S-K-I.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Not a near neighbor, but I am representing the 6th Council District.
I'm the zoning director.
Are you in favor of this project or against this, Terry?
The councilman is not in favor of this project.
Thank you for taking this time to close.
We appreciate it.
you're welcome anyone else in the audience
i'm no mr chair there is
no further answer mr chair no no one else thank you planning commission
good afternoon amy boyd with the planning commission amy b o y d
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth i do
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family RSA-3 zoning at this site.
While there are some light industrial uses in the area, there are nearby residents,
and the proposed intensive industrial use would be detrimental to those residential uses.
The appellant has not shown that there are unique physical circumstances or physical conditions
that would prevent the property from being used in conformance with the code.
the Planning Commission therefore recommends that the board deny the requested variance for
intensive industrial. Thank you. MI 2024-001-795-4999, Linden Avenue, I vote no.
Michael Johns, my vote is no. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is no. Dioin, my vote is no. James Snell, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no.
Thank you, counsel.
Number two, MI 2024, 001-848-2055, Cheltenham Avenue.
Olak Sokoloff is the attorney.
There's a letter of non-opposition from Oak Lane Worcester Community Coalition, RCO, with provisos.
Mr. Sokoloff.
Yes, good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
nice to see everyone oleg sokolov on behalf of the applicant ordering base incorporated that's
o-l-e-g s-o-k-o-l-o-e do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth i do our voice share us a few questions sir sure good afternoon counsel do you agree to
waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy good afternoon mr shaheed yes i do
thank you have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed and required
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing we in the interest of full disclosure
we emailed the majority of the packet within five days and then there were some supplements that
were sent yesterday thank you please receive and share your screen thank you um just as i'm sharing
my screen a little point of order mess um uh who testified on the earlier one is actually
my client i just spoke to him he was a bit confused he thought it was an open
like forum to to voice support or a position yeah thank you we appreciate that
all right is everybody able to see my screen we do sir wonderful um so this is a bit of a
unique situation this property is actually zoned cmx one but as a result of a particular overlay
And the fact that it's abutting an RSA 5 district, the uses intended for multifamily here are not allowed because, as I said, it abuts an RSA 5.
So the refusal is fully accurate, but it's the application for a new construction of an attached building with a roof deck and two roof access structures.
As the board will come to see later, after a number of meetings with the RCO, we have proposed not doing any kind of roof pilot house or structure.
So that is one of the proposed provisos that we're asking the board to consider and was recommended by the RCO itself.
So here's the deed. You can see the property was purchased in December of 2023 by the entity.
So, the property is currently a vacant lot. This is the lot itself and this, the lot in the neighboring building here at 2053 of zone CMX1. It's this, if you can see what I'm highlighting, which is a residential block here on, I believe, Woodstock Street that creates the refusal.
and this is looking down that residential block on Woodstock Street and then this is
looking down Chilton Ave and once again here's the property. You can see that Chilton Ave is
full of businesses. This is certainly something a building you know as you'll see it's a new
construction here is hoped to to start a bit of a revival of the commercial corridor of Chilton
avenue and this is per the zoning plan so once again you know chelton avenue is certainly a mix
of rm1 and cmx2 but they're most of this block in and of itself including across the street
are commercial properties despite the fact that they're currently zoned rm1 excuse me
here's an elevation of the proposed property so it would be commercial on the first floor
with four apartments on the second and third floor, two on each floor.
And then this pilot house is what we're proposing not.
And then this pilot house is what we're proposing not be part of the zoning plan and not put into construction at all.
So we're not going to have any kind of roof deck there, as that was a concern from the community about potential entry into the building or worse, some kind of bodily injury that could occur from somebody being up there.
our application for appeal, our project information form.
This is our latest notice to the community. We actually met with the community in June as well,
where we discussed some of these proviso issues and some of the concerns of the community.
We went back, discussed the matter, and then met with the community again and decided to,
that we would be very amenable to accepting the provisos recommended by the community,
which are shared on their letter of non-opposition.
Our certificates of mailing out of the most recent, this is 172 mailers were sent.
Not the best picture, but a picture of the notice poster at the property posted.
Our tax clearance certificate, letter from the RCO, unfortunately, wasn't very well attended either time, but there was certainly a lot of discussion.
There was a representative from the council person's office, as you see, and a lot of the suggestions for the provisors were taken from that representative.
and aside from the pilot house issue that was brought to to our attention it was really the
the concerns of the community were for the type of establishment that would go into the commercial
space so we weren't able to tell the the community exactly what type of business we are going to be
putting in there as the application is just for a vacant commercial space at this point but we did
agree to certain restrictions of the types of businesses. So no stop and goes, no event spaces,
smoke shop, gambling machines, no grocery store, and then the last proviso of the roof. I did also
want to share, Mr. Riaz, the representative of the entity, had been discussing this because of
the lack of attendance at the formal RCO meeting with direct neighbors, and we have submitted 21
form letters of support from neighbors on the block, neighbors, caddy corner, neighbors,
you know, within even a 250 foot radius of the property. So a lot of support for something new
on this block. At this time, if it's okay with the board, I'd like to bring on Mr. Riaz to adopt
my testimony. Counsel, what's next door to the property? What's that large property next door?
the large property next door that's constructed yes
to be quite honest with you I'm not sure what kind of establishment it is but if the board
would would allow me the courtesy of one moment I'll take an additional look at it
what so it's it's commercial and apartments upstairs i i couldn't testify properly that
it's apartments upstairs but it's definitively you know commercial commercial commercial all
the way on this all right two thousand thank you thank you mr rias can you raise your hand please
they have been allowed to speak yes thank you do i gotta match uh you've already been sworn
sir in another matter okay okay please proceed yes mr you're you're uh a representative of
or stockholder director of ordering base incorporated is that correct yes okay and
have you heard my testimony to the board here today yes and would you adopt it as your own
yes and the proposed provisos that were raised by the rco um you you would propose accepting those
with in front of the zba as well yes okay thank you no further questions for him mr sokoloff did
you show the uh the drawings of the apartments you mean the floor plans of the apartments themselves
we don't we don't fully have those sussed out at this point this was just for for a use but they're
i believe they're intended to both be two uh bedroom yes all four are going to be two bedrooms
correct yes so it's going to be two two bedroom and one one bedrooms apartment
And the question about the next door, I think it's a restaurant on the first floor, and I think it's about two apartments on the second floor, I believe.
and the the question about the next door next door i think is a restaurant on the first floor
So each floor is intended to have one two-bedroom and one one-bedroom apartment, correct?
Questions from the board.
I thought you did show floor plans. You just went past quickly.
I don't know.
No, just elevations.
So what are the square foot of the apartments?
Of the two bedrooms and the one bedroom.
I mean, yeah.
The two bedroom, I think, so they're like bi-level apartments.
So like the kitchen and dining room and the living room will be on the first floor.
And then two bedrooms and a bathroom will be on the second floor.
Give me one second.
I could pull it up in my note.
Where's the pen?
The, the, all right.
So you want to know the square footage of each apartment?
I think she said the bedrooms and the apartments too.
oh oh so the bedroom there there there the bad no the apartments it's the apartments
oh the apartment give me one second i could give you that right so give me one second
give me a calculator let me just do the calculation right now so if it's 29 times
19 5 2. uh they're gonna be around 1100 square foot for the two bedroom apartment
okay and um are you saying you're doing four bed four apartment units or three units uh four
units i believe two two bedrooms and one one two two bedroom and two one bedroom apartment okay
what's the square footage of your one bedroom apartment the square footage of one bedroom
apartment is, I believe
30 tons.
Roughly around 600 square feet.
And are those bi-level as well?
No, no. They're one level.
But the two
bedrooms are bi-level? Yes.
this is a three three story building I'm sorry were you done um board member yes it's a three
it's a three story building and something that I would just like to direct the board's attention
to if you can see here the setback from the um the closest residential neighbor here in the back
is 95 feet so it's it's certainly a long way away from you know there's a large backyard and and
nothing impacting really this closest residential neighbor here on Woodstock Street.
So you're asking for residential units?
Well, it's kind of hard for me to believe that you have this level of drawings for zoning
and there are no interior layouts of these units.
So, Michael, just so you know, we're going to hold the vote on this until we get a better
understanding of what it is.
yeah what we're going to do is we're going to go through to planning and then we're going to
close it except for drawings what it looks like and and council i would also think
instead of just you know a little idea of what the block looks like too how many apartments on
the block what the next door neighbor structure is and things like that okay you mean in terms
of apartment count there yeah we want to know how many if there's apartments there i i don't
i don't think anybody was clear what was there so i'd like to see how many apartments are there
you know what you know not just why i think it's a restaurant is it a restaurant on the first floor
but then we'd like to see the drawings of the building the way it's structured what it looks
like and everybody can take a look at it and then we're going to vote on after that okay
i understand if if that information is not available with the board um consider holding
this vote for that's what i just said that's what we're going to do that's what i'm saying
We're going to hold the vote until you come back and say, I have everything I need.
Understood, Chairman.
Thank you.
All right.
Any other questions from the board?
Do we know about where the trash is going to be stored in the units or?
And what are we doing about trash disposal?
So if I may, Ms. Gaston, that would be something as well that I address in a subsequent package for you.
Okay, thank you.
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Hillary Emerson.
Yes, a couple of things, Mr. Share.
So, one, Mr. Sokoloff, I understand that you were agreeable to the provisos in the RCO's letter, correct?
That's correct.
The removal of the pilot house, and they did not want any retail sales uses.
and they did not want any retail sales uses in the commercial space?
That's correct.
So what I would suggest since you will be removing the pilot house
is actually submitting revised plans that do not have the pilot house.
It will be easier if this is approved on L&I's end for processing
rather than them having to cross them out.
Understood.
understood i think what we'll be doing is submitting um we're completely revised plans
along with floor plans for the units and and you know uh demarcation of trash room and everything
else okay and and just to be clear the the revised plans that that the board can stamp are just a
revision of what was already reviewed by lni you you certainly can submit other plans for the board's
review and i do hear the board requesting that information um but we can we cannot we cannot
stamp those plans because they will be reviewed by l and i at a later stage so um just to be clear
in there and mr chair um were you did you just want to um hold this and then we'll vote on it
once we have the information or the resumption hearing i i what i would say if we if we could
you know once i get through the planning um i i think we hold it and just for them to turn the
plans in in response to that but i don't i don't think it needed resumptive hearing i'm going to
go to the all right okay that is fine thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
um yes mr chair we have one more hand raised for mr from charles richardson i have allowed
them to speak hi mr richardson you've already been sworn sir yes sir uh just wanted to bring
a little clarity to this. Next door is a restaurant. The owner lives above in the property.
With regard to the bedrooms in that household, they, in the RCO, and I do want to mention that
I do have Sharon Milburn-Carter here, who is the chair of the Oakland Worcester RCO, and she can
add anything that she needs to add, but they never mentioned bi-level apartments or anything
along those lines. This is something new that we've just heard today. What they had actually
said is that on the first floor, they were going to put an office there. And rather than any of the
other things that have been addressed, Mr. Ruiz actually did specify he was going to put an office
there. So I'm not quite sure what else they're trying to do with regard to that. Sharon, do you
need to add anything? No, I just have concerns with the floor plan. Excuse me, can we share
a swear in Ms. Milburn? Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry. Do me a favor, just state your name and spell for
the stenographer. Okay, my name is Sharon Milburn-Carter. It's spelled S-H-A-R-O-N,
m as in mary i l b u r n hyphenated carter all right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed okay when we had two rco meetings
and it was just never brought to our attention that they were going to have bi-level um apartments
It was just supposed to be two two-bedroom apartments on the second floor and two one-bedroom apartments on the third floor.
So this is something new that they've added since our last meeting that we had.
Well, thank you very much, and thank you to Mr. Richardson for calling us.
We appreciate it.
So in actuality, the councilwoman is not opposed, but just to have the thing, the provisos applied and also to, you know, we would like to see what the floor plan is because they didn't have that available to us either.
Okay. All right. Mr. Richardson, thank you very much. And Hillary, in reality, we're probably going to do a resumptive hearing for this. There's just too much information we have to get a hold of.
okay that is fine mr chair planning commission we can ask planning if they'd like to weigh in
now or later you want to do you want to vote now or you could vote after we see the final product
hi i can go now okay please proceed sure um amy board with the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change the cmx1 commercial mixed use zoning at this location
there is no res there is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property
that would prevent it from being used in performance of the zoning code.
The city planning commission recommends that the board deny the requested
variance for multifamily.
Thank you.
We will have a result of hearing on this and thank you, counsel.
And thank you, Mr. Richardson.
Thank you, Chair.
I do apologize that we weren't able to provide all the information today.
All right. Thank you. Number four, MI 2024-001-870, 723 Chestnut Street.
All right.
Thank you.
Number four, MI 2024-001.
Dorothy Ann Hamill is the attorney. There's a recommendation of unanimous non-opposition from Washington Square West Civic Association.
Vote was 12 and non-opposition and no opposition or abstentions.
And also a letter from Council Member Squiller.
In non-opposition.
Counsel Hamill.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
My name is Dorothy Hamill, D-O-R-O-T-H-Y-H-A-M-I-L-L.
I'm here on behalf of the applicant.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify who the applicant is?
the applicant is um samuel rapaport family partnership okay and our vice chair has just a
few questions good afternoon council do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate to
its accuracy i do it's an exhibit that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance
of this hearing? I did not submit five days in advance. I was waiting for the tax clearance
certificate to come from, to be cleared through the law department, which just happened yesterday.
But I submitted everything three days ago in the tax clearance certificate I submitted last night
or yesterday afternoon. Understood. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. As I said, my name is Dorothy Hamill. I'm here on behalf of the applicant. I am sharing my screen.
attached this copy uh what you're first seeing is the notice of refusal the refusal is one use
refusal because two family is not permitted in cmx 5 district
attached is project information our tax clearance certificate our
notice of meeting with the RCO, which we met with them for mailing. We met with them,
and as was mentioned, they've offered a letter of non-opposition from all members of their
zoning committee. The property is located at 723 Chestnut Street, middle of the block.
there is a lot of certified receipts there is restaurant on the first floor and we are looking
to have two residential units on the second and third floor attached is the meaning summary which
I believe you have with the unanimous non-opposition. There is currently
there is a rental license, active rental license for the property for one unit.
the copy of the deed as proof of ownership
your business license copies of the posting and here are here's a picture of
the building, the block, each side of the block. This is behind the building,
the alley behind the building. The units were previously, the building is
approximately 120 years old. There's been various uses on the second and third floors.
Most recently, artist studios. There was also residential use as evidenced by the
rental license. However, there's not, I think there's some information missing from the zoning
file because there's not much in the file for a building of that size of that age I should say
of that age, I should say. These are pictures of the interior of the units. They have,
these are pictures
as you can see, very large front windows. They have kitchens, bathrooms, second floor unit.
and the use as residential is consistent with the block. They are very large units. One is a
live workspace. This one is a live workspace for the artist, for an artist, local artist
in Philadelphia. For Center City, the rental rates are relatively
reasonable considering it's Center City. The monthly rents are approximately $1,300
a month. They, properties in compliance and is the uses consistent with the surrounding
neighborhood. There are residential condominiums across the street, two buildings worth of
condominiums. There is the, let me see, I was looking up, I didn't have it up, but there's a
rental, car rental at the end of the block towards the 8th street side, number of properties that
are residential, are commercial on the first floor with residential above, whether it be
apartments or condominiums. There's also some storage. Another building next door that's
commercial on the first floor with residential, with just storage on the second and third floors.
That's all I've got.
Do you have your client?
I do. Why don't you have your testimony adopted?
Dan Singer. He is the one who will adopt my testimony.
Is he a representative of the family partnership?
Yes, he is.
Thank you.
Mr. Singer?
they've been allowed to speak
Mr. Singer could you please
could you
and could you spell
please for the court stenographer
S-I-N-G-E-R
you swear or firm to tell the truth
the whole truth is nothing but the truth
please proceed counsel
Jan you've heard my testimony
regarding our application
for this variance
Do you adopt my testimony as true and correct as if you had testified directly?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No questions.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emberson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
i do not see any further hands mr chair planning commission
amy boyd with the city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the commercial mixed use cmx5 zoning at this location the proposed use is consistent
with the physical characteristics of the property therefore the planning commission recommends
at the board grant the variance for two-family household living. Thank you. MI 2024-001-870-723
Chesson Street, I vote yes. Michael Johns, my vote is yes. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes. Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes.
Ish? Ish Mosh, I hear you, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
You have your votes.
Thank you very much.
Number eight, MI 2024-003-541-1719.
MI 2024-003-541-1719, Rittenhouse Square.
David Orphanides is the attorney.
A letter of non-opposition from Center City Residents Association
with filing in provisos.
Mr. Orphanides.
I'm back in.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Cancel, could you please state your name and spell for this stenographer?
Certainly, my name is David Orphanides.
The last name is spelled O-R-P-H-A-N-I-D-E-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in a relationship to this property?
Certainly.
My client is 1719 Rittenhouse, LLC, and they're the owner of the property.
And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate towards accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I submitted everything and then submitted some interior photos today, along with an additional letter of support from the Curtis Institute, which owns the property across Shubert Alley behind my client's property.
Great.
Thanks, counsel. Please proceed if you're listening.
Certainly. And in terms of the notice of refusal, I just wanted to make sure that you had the current notice.
There was a corrected notice of refusal that was issued July 23rd, which I'm showing on my screen right now.
um originally the original notice of refusal that was appealed only referenced one of the
two uses of the property that we had submitted for which was the visitor accommodations uh and
after several months in dealing with lni was finally able to have them correct to properly
reflect what the application had included and again that stated 723 so just in regard to your
question regarding stipulating to the waiving the reading and stipulating to the accuracy i just
wanted to make sure we're looking at the correct refusal. The property in question is 1719
Rittenhouse Square. It's not Rittenhouse Square Street. It's Rittenhouse Square.
And then there's Rittenhouse Square. The property, as you can see, it's a corner and a through
property. So I'll show you in a second on the aerial. The property fronts on Rittenhouse Square,
the street uh to the right uh the front of it along the west side is a mozart place
and then to the rear with the north of it is um is schubert alley uh properties across
schubert alley to the north of us are on the south side of the 1700 block of locust street
um we have sandborn maps that show i mean you can imagine looking at the picture it's an old
building so i'm not telling you anything you that you couldn't learn or garner from the photo
but samporns going back to 1916 show that the building or the buildings the structures were in
slightly different configuration uh back in 1916 and then sometime between 1916 and 1946
they uh rendered they were rendered in their current um form the building was rendered its
current form three stories at the front two stories at the back and then you'll see from
the photographs, there's some open area to the north and the northeast corner, which is presently
paved, which then again backs up to what's now called Schubert Alley, used to be called Latimer
Street, and Mozart Place to the west used to be South Bouvier, which it is further to the south
of our property, but has been renamed as Mozart Place. The property, my clients purchased the
property in June of 2021. And after they purchased it, it had been used previously since 1954 as a
single family dwelling with some type of home business. Most of the time it was a doctor's
office. After my clients acquired it, the property zoned RM1, we pulled a zoning permit
and utilized it as a zoning permit for a three-family dwelling.
One unit on each of the floors, first, second, and third.
The property also has the cellar.
Because the property is zoned RM1, which you can see here in the zoning map,
the lot size is 1,650 square feet.
It's 25 feet wide by 66 feet deep.
By right, it could have four dwelling units,
given the lot size requirements in the zoning code.
with the mixed income housing bonus it could have five if
one of the units was moderate income in six units if it was one of the units
moderate income in six units if it was one of the units met the low income requirements under the
mixed income housing bonus. Overall, the interior square footage is just under 3,000 square feet,
not including the cellar. With the cellar, it's about 2,800 square feet. The property is located
in the Rittenhouse-Fittler Square Historic District, but it is not individually designated.
Here you can see aerial maps, and let me zoom in just a little bit.
Of our property, as I mentioned, as you can guess, 1,700 block of Rittenhouse Square.
We're just off the square, which starts at 18th Street.
To the across Mozart Place, to the west of us, you have the Barkley, which is, I think it's 80-some units, 85 units.
You have our property.
And then next to our property to the east, which I'm going to use the photo here, which is extending here past the building with the red door and then the next building next to it, that's 1711 to 17 Rittenhouse Square.
That is the Franklin on Rittenhouse Hotel. And it is owned by a different LLC, 1711 to 17 Rittenhouse
Square, Rittenhouse LLC, which has the same three members as the LLC that owns 1719. 1719 became
my clients owned and operated the Franklin on Rittenhouse Hotel. 1719 became available. They
purchased it. The application, even though, as I showed you with the corrected notice of refusal
from July 23rd, it says visitor accommodations. Visitor accommodations includes hotels,
motels, that type of use. The idea is it's not going to be, there's not going to be a breach
between 1711 to 17, but it will operate as a part of the Rittenhouse, the Franklin on Rittenhouse
hotel. The idea, and I'll show you the floor plans, is to have anywhere from three suites,
one for each floor, that could then, with lockout rooms, turn into up to seven rooms. There are a
number of the units, well, each of the suites has a kitchen or kitchenette, and then, depending on
the breakup, using lockout doors between different parts of each of the suites, some of the units
would have a kitchen or kitchenette. Some would not. And the idea is for longer extended stays.
And I'll have my client adopt my statements. All check-ins will happen at the hotel 1711-17
through the red door. I'll show you photographs again. It's going to be managed by the,
operated by the same entity, managed by the same entity. The cleaning staff will be the same.
Again, check-ins, check-outs will all be at a 1711 to 17, which, if we get to the provisos in CCRA's letter of non-opposition, one or two of them create a little bit of an issue for us to agree with, and we can address that in a minute.
Exterior photographs, again, this property, 1719 Rittenhouse Square, you can see here.
Now, you can see, this is the view to the east.
I already mentioned across Mozart Place, we have the Barkley down at the end of the block.
We have down at 237 to 47 South 18th, which you see here to the left, the TAN building.
That's 85 units.
To the right is 1706 Rittenhouse Square, 31-story building with 40 units.
There are a couple single families then before you get to a parking lot that's located across the street.
We do have letters of support from the owner of the parking lot, and then the two properties, the single families abutting it. The parking lot is, if you give me one minute, is 1716 to 28 Rittenhouse Square, and then going back up, the next two properties, 1712 and 1740, we have letters of support because it's owned by the same owner.
Down at the opposite, at the west end of the block, on the other side of the, to the west of the parking lot, you have the Art Alliance, which I think most people are familiar with.
And then again, you have the Barclay at the bottom photograph across Mozart Place.
This is the rear of our property.
You can see this is at the intersection of Mozart Place and Schubert.
You can see the rear of our property where I said the open area is paved.
You can see then down to the right is the rear of the hotel, the Franklin-on-Rittenhouse.
And then you can see here, this photograph, these are the backs of the properties that front on the south side of Locust Street.
the south side of locustry the bottom picture is the back of a curtis institute one of the
The bottom picture is the back of a courtesy.
curtis institute buildings and again we have and then they're also on the on the west side
of mozart place so you can see over here to the left of the bottom photograph and we do have a
letter of support again that i've said i forwarded just today we just received it from them so
So even though, going back to the zoning map, even though, so we have CMX3 to the north of us, which permits visitor accommodations.
You have RMX3, the Barkley, right across Mozart Place, and then the square.
You have a parking lot right across the street from us, and then the Art Alliance further to the west.
Our hotel is 1711, 1315, 174 properties to the west of us, abutting us to the, I mean, to the east of us.
You have 1709 Rittenhouse Square, which my clients also own, then a multifamily, an eight-unit, then a two-unit, then something that's zoned as an office.
And then again, at the end of the block, although it's RM4, you have the 85 unit building down across the street. Although RM1, you've got the 40 unit, 1706, a couple single families, two of which are included in the letter of support from the owner of the property that owns the parking lot.
So even though it's zoned RM1, you're right off of Locust Street, you're right off of Walnut Street, you're right off of Rittenhouse Square. It's not the typical RM1 block, and it's clearly the uses there are a wide mix, most of them skewing towards more intense uses or zoning classes, uses that are permitted in zoning classifications like CMX3 or CMX4, where the use visitor accommodations and the business and professional office, which would be the office for the business,
will be located here or more in keeping with CMX3 and permitted in CMX3 and in keeping with
the nature of the block. Just I have a little bit about the Franklin, the hotel that my clients
also own. You can see here the Philadelphia Weekly, one of the best hotels in Philadelphia.
They've done a tremendous job. I had for a time represented the prior owners when it was more of a
bed and breakfast, smaller hotel, but they've really gone a long way. Mainline Today, great
reviews, and then pictures from their website of the rooms. I mean, really nice, beautiful rooms
at the hotel, which will be keeping that same type of unique theme in 1719.
um let's see i have uh floor plans uh and any content here's a contextual plan again that
shows our property the structure the hotel to the east uh schubert alley to the north
mozart place to the west the barclay across the street and uh here are these are the existing
floor plans for the three-family dwelling with one of the units had a home professional office
included or permitted with it, just like the prior single family use had the home business or home
office. And then here are the proposed floor plans. So the seller will be the office. And then what
we basically did is showed how, so each of these, this is a first floor, second floor, and third
floor. We have them colored out how they can function as individual units or as one large
suite. But if you count the number of beds, it's seven beds. So it can be broken down into seven
rooms, some of which, again, would have use of a kitchen or kitchenette, some of which would not,
or could be up to three, as low as three suites. There is a deck off the rear of the third floor.
There were questions about that during the community meeting with CCRA, and one of the provisos in their letter of non-opposition, which we have no issue with, is that that deck isn't to be utilized as part of the visitor accommodation use, and we have no issue with that.
those doors, the door to the deck is locked with a key. There's no key in the property. So
there's no way for anybody to get out on, excuse me, to get out onto the deck. We have no issue
with that proviso. It's the other two provisos that we have issue with. Again, I went through
the notice of refusal. The business professional office and the visitor accommodation use are
very much in keeping with other uses on the block. Visitor accommodations obviously is identical to
the use of the abutting property to the east that we own which was granted by variance but
is operated for decades now um and then and the other uses surrounding it copy of our appeal to
the zoning board and the project information form that we submitted are included at tab six
are included at tab six as i mentioned we did have a community group meeting with ccra they
as i mentioned we did have a community group meeting
were designated by the planning commission by email back on june 18th as a coordinating rco
we here's a list of addresses to which we sent the 14 303 notice the meeting was on july 23rd
a certificate of mailing um there were what was it 554 mailing pieces uh that went out as uh for
notification for the meeting. We did have the, the meeting was held virtually. As part of CCRA's
process, they ask you to try to get letters, position letters from the abutting property
owners. Here's the template of the letter that we sent out to the adjacent property owners behind
us, to the side of us, across from us, and included the application, which I mentioned did
include both visitor accommodations and the business professional office, which was left
off the initial notice of refusal. We have, as I mentioned, the letter of support from the parking
lot and then the two properties directly to the east. Their support letter, obviously my client
or the same members of the different LLC that owns 1711 to 17, which is the abutting property
to the east support this application. And then again, the letter that just came in from a support
from the Curtis Institute that owns the property directly behind us or to the north of us across
Shubert Place or Shubert Alley. Here's their letter of support. Some miscellaneous items,
the deed showing my clients who I mentioned I was representing and own the property,
1719 Brittenhouse LLC. There's their deed. Our tax clearance, which is good through August. It
was issued August 7th and good through September 7th. A copy of our hearing notice for today's
hearing, and the posting of the photographs on each of the frontages, Rittenhouse Square,
and then around each side of the building. You can see Mozart Place, and I don't think I need
to get into all those. So again, we feel that the criteria set forth in the zoning code for
the granting of the variance, the variances requested here, are satisfied. They're,
their, you know, to utilize it as RM1 at this location. It is an option, but the reality is
that given the nature of this block and given the hotel use next door, given the music school,
the institute behind, the idea of using it for just a typical multifamily dwelling
may prove difficult, both in terms of renting it out and also in terms of its compatibility
with the adjacent or abutting uses.
And as such, we feel that this use is obviously identical to the use to the abutting us to
the east and is in keeping with the other uses.
And again, the zoning classification that those uses would be permitted in as a matter
of right.
I have the representative from Harman-Deutch-Noller here who can adopt my statements regarding
the architectural plans, floor plans and whatnot.
And then I have a representative from 1719, Rittenhouse LLC, also on the line to adopt my statements. That representative can also speak to the fact regarding, real quickly, CCRA's letter of non-opposition. There were three provisos. I mentioned number two, the no use of the deck. We have no issue with that.
But we also, number three, we technically didn't have an issue with that, but we were trying to work out the language regarding what owning and operating meant.
You know, could the three, even though here it's a different LLC, it's the same three members of the LLC.
It is going to be operated by the same entity.
We were working on some more details of that language.
But the main one, and it's not a killer per se, but the first one was the issue.
During the meeting, one of the members of C-Series Zoning Committee brought up visitor accommodations and Airbnbs.
As we know, with the change and the crackdown on Airbnbs, they are now being permitted as visitor accommodations.
So before where people thought of visitor accommodations as hotels and motels, which is what you normally think of, now the first thing that comes to people's minds are Airbnbs and then the concerns that community members or people have about Airbnbs.
This is not going to be an Airbnb. This is part of the hotel operated by the hotel. And the issue with the kind of temporary approval that the board has been issuing with the Airbnbs, again, most of them that I represented or presented or that I've seen or heard presented to the board are these Airbnbs that are located in residential neighborhoods, not in this commercial center, the heart of Philadelphia, next to a hotel.
commercial center, the heart of Philadelphia, next to a hotel across from, you know, 85 unit
building with other large multifamilies on the block. There's an issue, not only does it,
it doesn't fit, it's not, it's not really appropriate for our proposed use. We understand
that visitor accommodation does include Airbnbs, but the reality is this is never going to be used
as an Airbnb. My clients would never sell it as long as they own the hotel or anybody owns a hotel,
They're never going to want any type of issues with an Airbnb at that property.
They sold it to a different owner.
And the other problem is, is that from a financing standpoint, my clients are putting about a million dollars into this property to convert it into the type of rooms and the type of accommodations that are fitting of a hotel of their class and stature and their quality.
and they're just not going to be able to get the financing to do that or for that if there's a
chance in three years it would lose its approval. And I had that discussions with the attorney for
CCRA. I don't know if he, that's Wade Albert, is on the call now, but we were trying to work out
those details as far as having that, at least that proviso, if not all the provisos removed,
and obviously he can speak to the status of that if he's on the call. But again, we would ask that
if the variance is granted, we have no issue with the roof deck, the prohibition on the use of the
roof deck, so long as it's used as visitor accommodations. Obviously, if it were to be
ever turned into a regular apartment building or a single-family dwelling, I think the concerns
regarding that would go away. So, even that proviso would need to be tweaked in terms of
language. But the first and the third, we would love to agree with CCRA, and we always agree with
them whenever we can but in this case we just can't from a financial and uh from a business
standpoint and with that i'd like to have if um if you would like me to to have those um two
representatives adopt my statements why don't you have the architect first sure uh steve black
he could be promoted to panelist
sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes hello my name is steven black it is s-t-e-v-e-n-b-l-a-c-k you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please please proceed counsel hey steve how
you doing today i'm good david great and um are you with harman deutsch-older architecture
i am and and harman deutsch-older has prepared the plans that we presented today
is that correct that's correct and harman deutsch roller also is submitted um the provided the plans
prepared the plans and other materials to apply for building permits the prior zoning permit for
this property for the three-family use is that correct that's correct yes and um did you hear
the statements that i made to the board today i did yes and are they true and correct to the
best of your knowledge yes they are and would you adopt them as your own yes okay thanks steve
And then the representative for 1719 Rittenhouse LLC is Sanjeev Verma, S-A-N-J-E-E-V, his last name Verma, V-E-R-M-A.
And if he could be promoted to panelists.
Jason, do we shame?
Looking for him right now.
He said he's been on since he started.
His phone number, I don't know.
I mean, it should be under his name.
His phone number might be, the number might be under 732-850-1569.
If it's not under his name.
Can we see him?
Okay, I see him.
I see him.
I'll promote him.
Let him speak now.
Hi, sir.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Star 6.
Hello?
Let me just text him.
Do we see him?
Yeah, I see him.
and they're not allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name?
David, you're an officer of the court.
We'll gladly take your testimony.
Thank you.
If he pops back in, we can do it.
Questions from the board?
No questions.
I have a used question real quick.
I have a used question real quick. So if the deck is not going to be used, it's just in terms of use, what are the, what is just going to be there?
So if the deck is not...
We're not going to rip the desk off, but it's an insurance liability. My clients don't want to make it available. So what there is, is there is, and that's, I don't know if I have a photo. I don't know if I have a photo of it in the interior. I don't think I do.
But the what it is, is there's a doorknob and then there's a lock, a deadbolt lock that has like a key for it.
But there's no key. You know, the ownership has a key and it's not required for emergency egress or anything like that.
So nobody inside the units, you know, inside the on the inside of that door that leads to that deck.
They can't there's no way for them to get out there.
Is it visible, though? Would it be visible to that?
Well, you can see it. I mean, in the picture that I have right now, the existing railings are there. So they're just not doing anything with that. They're just leaving it there and nobody's going to use it. I mean, the reality is, is there's, I mean, again, from an insurance standpoint, liability standpoint, they have no interest in making that available.
Secondly, it's right across from the Curtis Institute, which my client has good relationships with already. And then secondly, the last thing they want is outdoor noise being generated by their guests, disturbing their other guests.
So for a multitude of reasons, you know, there's no reason, motivation or justification for them to use it, but also to go through the cost of ripping it up is just, so they'd rather put the money into making the rooms really nice and providing great service.
Any other questions from the board?
And again, CCRA just asks that we not use it, not that we rip it up.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
I have a hand up from a Takiyah Taylor.
I have allowed them to speak.
Could you please state your name as spelled for the stenographer?
Takiyah Taylor, please unmute.
you have been allowed to speak.
Hi, could you please state your name?
Hold on, Mr. Chair.
Takiyah Taylor, once again, please unmute.
I'm sorry, can you hear me now?
We can.
Could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer?
Takiyah, T-A-K-E-I-A, Taylor, T-A-Y-L-O-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
Not a close neighbor.
Okay, please proceed.
Is there a question that was asked to me?
You put your hand up to have comments.
I'm sorry, no comments right now.
Oh, well, thank you very much. We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
yes mr chair wade albert has their hand raised i've allowed them to speak
counsel could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
uh sure my name is wade w-a-d-e last name is a-l-b-e-r-t right do you swear affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed thank you so i'm
counsel for the center city residents and uh as as mr orfiniti said we heard this case and we you
know we understand that this matter relates to hotel not to uh other types of of cases uh that
come before the zba where the applicant seeks uh this type of use variance to operate short-term
rentals um and it is this cc area however would you know had some concerns that there may be some
sort of, um, circumstance in the future where the property could potentially be sold to
a third party.
And in that circumstance, you know, it is, it is, uh, we have a policy against, uh, supporting
or, um, or, uh, say, yeah, essentially supporting, um, uh, use variances for short-term rentals,
because we believe that, you know, we, we look to support the hotel industry in our,
in our footprint and their service workers.
And we look to we believe that short term rentals hurt the the affordability of housing stock in our community.
But that being said, we are aware of this hotel. We believe that the hotel is a has been a very good neighbor for a very long time.
And we support this use. And we did include the proviso language.
But after speaking with Mr. Orphanides, I can report that, you know, unfortunately, I do not at this point have authority from the.
I can report that, unfortunately, I do not at this point have authority from the organization just because it's difficult to get a vote from an RCO to strike the provisos, but I will report that the leadership of the organization would essentially be agreeable to removing the provisos relating to a sunset and the third proviso about transfer because we know that, as Mr.
reported that um that there is an issue with financing uh if those providers make it into the
the permit so uh just wanted to inform the you know the zba about that i hope that makes sense
thank you mr albert we appreciate it is there anyone else in the virtual audience
no further planning question planning commission
amy board with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change
from the existing RM1 residential multifamily zoning at this location.
The appellant has not shown that there are unique physical circumstances
or conditions that would prevent the property
from being used in conformity with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends that the board
deny the requested variance for visitor accommodation
and business and professional office.
Thank you.
MI 2024-003-541-1719, Rittenhouse Square.
I vote yes.
with proviso per refusal dated 7-23-24 and also no use of roof deck. Michael Johns, my vote is yes
with proviso. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso. Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with
proviso. Tyowin, my vote is yes with proviso. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
I may be excused.
Yes, you can.
Thank you.
Number nine, MI 2024-003-553, 5114 Wayne Avenue.
Eileen Quigley is the attorney.
Also, Vern Anastasio represents a protestant in the case.
There's a letter of non-opposition from Faith CDC, the coordinating RCO,
and a letter of opposition from Solo, Germantown,
and also the protestant provided 38 form letters of opposition.
The beckoness panel is up.
Good afternoon, Chair Bergman, members of the board.
Eileen Kiddly, Bowers, Spar, LLP, 1735 Market Street.
And Eileen, just for the record, could you spell your name for this stenographer?
Certainly.
Eileen, E-I-L-E-E-N, Quigley, Q-U-I-G-L-E-Y.
You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Could you want to identify your client, the relationship to this property?
It's Ocean Family Center, Executive Director and Founder, Salima McNeil.
And Vern Anastasio, are you available?
good afternoon mr chair um vernon i uh i already swore you once today right yes you did a couple
times okay could you identify your client in this matter yeah i represent the immediate adjacent
mostly impacted neighbor mr oscar beisert okay all right and um our vice chair has a few questions
for Eileen. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to wait to read another refusal or stipulate to
its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed
and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing? I did with other
photos submitted on the 19th, Monday. Yes, five days ahead from the majority. Understood. Please
And I would mention one of our board members has recused herself.
Taya Nguyen has recused herself for this.
Thank you.
May I share my screen?
You most certainly can.
I know they're around here somewhere.
Can everybody see that?
so good afternoon chair bergman members of the board as i said i'm here on behalf of ocean family
center we are here today for a variance for personal service use and health practitioner
office use we submitted our documents we have our agreement of sale and letter of authorization
certificate of tax clearance necessary posting photos as well as neighbor notice
necessary posting photos as well as neighbor notice letters the most recent
of which was sent out on August 7th with certificates of mailing and we also
sent out hand-delivered a flyer for the August 19th RCO meeting and that was
hand-delivered on August 12th we are here today as I said for the the
property is zoned RSA 3 there are only there are very limited number of by
right uses for this RSA 3 zone it's single-family dwelling a family daycare
which means you can only have it in your home a church transit station and a
community or agricultural use this property has been used for a daycare
center since at least 1972 and for the board's reference this property was designated historic
in november of 2023 it's known as the sally watson barn this is the property now it sits
back from wayne avenue it was built in about in the late 1800s and then converted to a church
in the early 1900s and as I said it it was a church and in a daycare center for
which they receive zoning relief in the early 70s and it's been used as a daycare
center ever since so for the past 50 years this part of Wayne Avenue and
maybe it'll be easier across the street this is right next door but across the
street from the property it is zoned RM1 which is residential mixed-use there are
properties that are multifamily across the street from our site as well as
commercial on the 5,000 block of Wayne Avenue and throughout Wayne Avenue so
you can imagine Wayne Avenue is a mix of residential and commercial uses I just
want to I understand that RCO letters were submitted last night I just want to
make a standing objection to any letters or testimony or votes from people who lack standing
in this matter. I think Ms. Inez Love did reference that there were people that were outside of the
250 feet at the RCO meeting who were making comments. So nobody objects to comments, but
I do have to object to standing of those who are not within that 250 feet and have the
opportunity to vote for this. So I would like to make that standing objection.
Thank you.
At this time, I would like to call Salima McNeil, who is the founder and executive director of the
Ocean Family Center. Can you please raise your hand, Ms. McNeil, and I'll elevate you.
yes can you hear me we can thank you so much could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer yes my name is Salima McNeil first name spelled s-a-l-e-e-m-a-h
last name m-c-n-e-i-l do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth. So help me God, yes. Please proceed, counsel. Thank you, Chair. Ms. McNeil, can you
briefly explain your educational background? Yes, I currently hold a bachelor's degree in human
services administration and a master's degree in clinical counseling and psychology from Chestnut
Hill University and a women's entrepreneurship certificate from Cornell University. Can you
briefly explain your, or not briefly, explain your work experience in the field of maternal and
family health and wellness? Yes, I have been in the field for approximately 15 years. In this
capacity, I have served in several facets, which include my most recent endeavor over the last six
years, which is founder and executive director of Ocean Family Center. I've also worked with the
school district of Philadelphia in my earlier years, right out of high school, and currently
as a contractor for the ELECT program. I've also served as a prison-based doula and lactation
consultant and obstetrical coordinator for Pennsylvania Hospital. Thank you. Ms. McNeil,
on the screen, I have your resume at Exhibit 17. Is that correct? Correct, yes. Chair Bergman,
members of the board, Mr. Anastasia, I'd like to offer Ms. McNeil as an expert in the field
of Maternal and Family Health and Wellness.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Does anybody have any questions?
Anastasia, do you have any comments?
Anastasio, do you have any comments?
None whatsoever.
Thank you, Eileen. That's good.
Thank you very much, Chair.
Ms. McNeil, I may just refer to you on and off as Salima, too, so I may slip into that.
But can you briefly explain the origin of the Oshun Family Center?
Yes. Oshun Family Center was started in 2018, and we got our nonprofit designation in 2019.
I started this organization as a radical response to the Black maternal mortality rate, which
is three to four times higher than our white counterparts.
At Ocean Family Center, we provide racially concordant care to members of the Black community
who are seeking to achieve optimal wellness.
We do not pigeonhole what it looks like for the path of optimal wellness, so we offer
several modalities that include clinical and non-clinical modalities of healing, which
include but not limited to psychotherapy, doula, and lactation support as our primary focuses
currently. And can you just give the board some background as to how this impacted you personally?
Yes, may or may not be on the line. I have an 18-year-old son. His name is Makai. My delivery
into bringing him earthside proved to be very traumatic in my earlier years. So by looking at
the things that I experienced within the health system, myself came up with ideas of what I
thought would be helpful in the fourth trimester. I am then connected with other members of the
birth worker community here in Philadelphia and hospital workers and employees to form the
Maternal Wellness Village in 2019 so we can collectively come up with ideas to help eradicate
Black maternal morbidity and mortality. And we have done that by creating a clinical research
child that we are in collaboration with Temple University, cardiovascular risk reduction issues,
diversity, equity, and inclusion issues with the hospital system, and providing doulas and
lactation and therapy support to birthing clients at Temple University. I'm just going to ask you
to slow down a bit because you have such a wealth of experience and this is such important work. I
just want to make sure the board catches everything that you are involved with and
And we'll look to be involved with in the future.
Thank you.
So I'm going to go back to the site.
Or do you want to jump to the floor plans and talk about what you need as far as a space?
So do you currently have a building or a space to provide the services that you're talking about for the Ocean Family Center?
We are currently under contract to purchase 5114 Wayne Avenue. So we're equitable owners at this
point in time. And these are the services and space that we need to adequately meet the needs
of Black burning people in Philadelphia. So explain to the board why you are looking for
a permanent space. Prior to COVID, we had three functional spaces that we were in.
One was in Montgomery County on Old York Road in Jenkintown.
Then I had an office in Queen Village, which was at 4th and South, and another one adjacent
to the offices of Penn Medicine at 8th and Sampson.
During COVID, there was no longer a need to have three in-person locations, so we went
virtual, which did not pose an issue for our clientele, and in that time, we've grown.
At this point in time, we are looking to reconnect with our initial desires, which is to hold
in-person psychotherapy, doula, and lactation support services in which we have been looking
for a brick-and-mortar location for the last two years, which is a part of our five-year
strategic plan. And at this junction, we are on target. So can you explain some of the limitations
that having office space presents with the services that you're providing or want to
will provide and expand. What are the limits in having an office space in some office building
in Montgomery County? So as a reproductive psychotherapist, a lot of the things that we
do are feelings-based. Although we are logical and rational, we want people to have an experience.
And oftentimes when you go into a sterile doctor's office with fluorescent lights,
it looks very medical. When we provide psychotherapy services, it is a more homely
effect. It is a more welcoming effect. It isn't as sterile, and it is something for the community
to thrive in. So as we transition out of this virtual space, in which our clients are ready
as well because we have asked them, and we are no longer willing to turn people down because we do
not have an in-person option, because people are not getting the services that they need because
they're looking to exit from their homes and enter a different place for their healing and wellness.
As we've been on this journey for the last two years, we have sought locations all over the city of Philadelphia.
all over the city of Philadelphia. The one thing that we keep in mind is not just the safety of
The one thing that we keep in mind is not just the city, but also the city.
our staff, but the safety of the surrounding community, which allows us to be in a space
that is welcoming and safe for all of those around, which leads to our desire to be at 5114
Wayne Avenue. So you've been looking for a property for the last two years? Correct.
And you looked at commercial properties? We have looked at all types of properties.
We have connected with those at the Philadelphia Housing Authority to look at the North Philadelphia central area where our geographical location was from Erie Avenue to Girard, from Broad to 33rd, which includes the Strawberry Mansion area.
However, when we were connecting with those at PHA, they did not have a property that could fit our needs that was at least 3,000 to 5,000 square feet, so we continued our search.
I connected with Mr. David Thomas at PHDC, who also let me know that he would look for properties for us, but did not find a space that would adequately fit our needs.
We then connected with Ashton Simmons at Shift Capital, where we were discussing the building, the old Citizens Bank building at Broad and Erie.
However, we were priced out of that building, and the only other options were the industrial sites in Kensington, Fishtown, or Port Richmond, which was well out of the geographical area of the clients that we serve in the community.
What were the other barriers to having something in an industrial area or the other properties that you looked at?
the other barriers proved to us to be funding, not the funding that we can acquire to purchase
the property, but the price tag that it costs to acquire those properties. We could not afford to
purchase the building at 51, at Broad and Airy, the Citizens Bank building. Also, the other
industrial spaces were to be built out as doctor's offices or other office space that did not allow
us to have something as small as 5,000 square feet. And the things that we were finding were
above 5,000, close to 10,000, and even the bank was a stretch at 14,000 square feet.
So funding for us to purchase a warehouse, and even our search in most recent, is $2.2 million,
a million dollars, $3 million. This property fits our budgetary needs. It meets the needs of the
community that also lends to our safety and well-being as staff and community members.
So safety was another consideration or barrier to these other properties?
Correct.
Condition of properties?
So how does 5114 meet the needs of the Ocean Family Center?
take us through the the floor plan layout and i can flip to a a photo again so people can see
what the site looks like and then get back to the floor plans but here we have it it's a
standalone building set back far from wayne avenue open space correct
mm-hmm okay so with that in mind take us through why 5114 is the only building you found in what
did you say your two-year search correct your two-year search with connections with other
entities including pha and trying to locate a property why does 5114 wayne avenue fit this
5114 at Wayne Avenue fits our needs because as you can see with the layout it has a variety of
spaces one being our therapy offices we provide reproductive psychotherapy to parents who are
struggling with the transition into parenthood those who are struggling to have toddlers that
have bad days and they've been crying for hours and they need a place to decompress to talk about
the stressors of parenting. We provide services to dads and non-gestational partners who don't
know how to help and support their mates and the people that they are caring for, and we provide
that psychoeducation. As you can see to the right of the screen in the yellow boxes are our doula
and lactation suite. Everybody deserves to have access to a doula. That is not a luxury service.
A lactation consultant is not a luxury service, and we are here embedded in the community providing
those as well. As you can see, our doula and lactation offices are larger, so they are suites
to include the family aspect with everybody coming in for the visit. The non-gestational partner,
mom, dad, grandmom, sister, other siblings that can help and support in those things.
As you can see in the far top part is my office. I will be on the main floor to help usher in
clients and to serve a purpose to our therapists and lactation consultants on the days that they
are inside of the building. We transition to the lower level. That is going to be our open workspace.
We transition to the lower level. That is going to be our open workspace. As a reproductive
psychotherapist, we have a pipeline with different colleges and universities in the area where we
train psychotherapists under our program to become therapists in the community. So we have
them as interns, and then we hire them as contractors, and then we work for them to be
full-time. So the open space that you see on the lower level will essentially be our bullpen where
all of our interns will sit and some of our administrative offices for our clinical director,
our director of perinatal equity, and our policy coordinator. We want to have the option of having
an outdoor space to walk, to sit that's safe. So we don't have any renderings for the outdoor space.
However, we want to have the option to safely go outside and take a deep breath. If our clients are
too overwhelmed with being in the confines of the building, this area gives a very walkable space
within the property that does not bleed over into the neighborhood that feels welcoming,
that feels green? How many people in our city don't have tree-lined blocks? How many people
don't have grass in front of their house, but they have the opportunity to come to this center for
their maternal wellness of their family and experience it? Eileen, can you go to the interior
renderings, please? Sure. Thank you. So this brings me so much joy. When you walk through the door,
this is what we mean by it not feeling like a doctor's office, but it feeling like somewhere
that is very welcoming, where families will come and thrive. The same families that have been there
for the last upwards of 50 years, bringing their children to drop them off for their daily education
and their childcare centers, and then picking them up at the end of the day. That is the same
target population that we are going to work with. We work with families. We work with those that
are pregnant. We work with the little people who are just trying to gather their big emotions in
a small world. Next slide, please. This is the dual lactation suite that I explained to you.
I also want to reiterate a couple things. We do not perform medical procedures. We are not doing
abortions. We are not collecting bodily fluids. We are not storing bodily fluids. We are not
having babies on site. We are not providing services to those who struggle with substance
use and opioid use disorder. We are not servicing people who need medication-assisted treatment.
We have functioned for the last six years, and I have never had to call an emergency responder
for any of my clients. If the fear is that somebody's going to have a baby on site,
then we can mitigate that and help them get to Einstein and or Temple,
which are both close in our geographical area.
I'm going to jump to the interior just so the board can see how the space is right now.
You have lots of windows.
We are not looking to change anything in the exterior as it has been designated as a historical site.
However, as you can see on the interior, there are very large rooms to accommodate so many little people.
And we will be looking to make smaller areas to accommodate our offices for our clinicians.
So let me ask you, are the services that you're looking to provide in this space, are they being met elsewhere in the city?
This integrated care model is not anywhere else in the city of Philadelphia.
There is not a place where the services that are being offered are an enhancement to the standard of prenatal care.
So clients will go to their obstetric providers, whether it be a midwife or an obstetrician.
They will get all of their clinical medical care there.
We will then help them plan for their birth, give them education on their birthing plan and psychoeducation on mental wellness.
We intend to have other modalities of healing that include body movement with yoga practitioners, being able to somatically heal as a modality for clinical therapy.
I like to tell people that if you have kids, you have and understand the stressors that little people can bring to your life.
And what we do is provide a safe and brave space for you to say, my kid's not being nice to me today and I feel victimized by them.
What am I supposed to do?
That is what we help the community do. We help our families be better parents because they have an outlet to actually say, I'm struggling with parenting today. How do I support my child that is neurodivergent? How do I cope with the fact that my child had an autism diagnosis? How do I cope with the fact that I left the baby, I left the hospital without a baby, whether that child is in a NICU or did not make it? Those are the essential services that we are providing to the community.
So, I think it bears repeating how vital is Ocean Family Center in your estimation.
vital is Ocean Family Center, in your estimation, in this space that you've been working in for so
many years? We have impacted hundreds of lives over the last six years through several avenues.
We catch parents that are young within the school district, provide them with psychoeducation
and support. We also raise awareness in the city of Philadelphia and throughout the Commonwealth,
April 11th through the 17th, every single year, which is Black Maternal Health Week,
that we partner with other organizations around the entire city to raise that awareness,
to create healing spaces for birth workers, and to give our providers the education that they need
to treat Black bodies with respect, morality, and equity when it comes through the door.
We developed this integrated care model as a standard to enhance the standard. So it is our
hope that one day having a doula, lactation consultant, and a psychotherapy are all a part
of the clinical care team that all supports each and every family. So this is vital for the life
and stability of Black birthing families in Philadelphia that also meet the 62% of Black
Americans that are in the Germantown area, specifically in the corridor that we would
like to be in at 5114 Wayne. Okay. So, what was some of your early community engagement
before we came in? Did you engage with the community? Yes. I hope I'm allowed to say this,
and I think I can because she recused herself, but Ms. Taya Nguyen, she's the Executive Director
of the Community Design Collaborative in which we were a recipient of a grant that connected us
with 15 Architecture and Design where they performed our feasibility study for this
particular site. And in that feasibility study, things that came up with just structurally with
the building, plumbing, needing an HVAC system, improving on the interior, some things with the
roof, and then the benefits that it does pose for the community. I want to emphasize that this
is not a recovery center. We do not provide services to those that are struggling with
opioid use and substance use disorder that is outside of our competency and scope. And so it
is to bring these essential tools and modalities of healing to Philadelphia in this way. In the
last two years, we have looked for several opportunities to have this in person, and this
is the ideal space for us. And if you would like a copy of our feasibility study, we have 15 on
the line that can also speak to that, and we can also provide it to you. Okay, so let's now talk
about your operations. Yes. Oh, can you go to that slide, please?
Scroll down. We don't have, yeah, we don't have, we have, we didn't include what your,
what your hours of operation are. We'll just ask you to testify about that. So tell us about your
hours of operation and how you go through your scheduling.
Yes. So I will front load this by saying we are appointment only. We also will still enact a
hybrid model, which means that all of our staff will not be on site every day. We will be open
Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed on Sundays
and federal holidays we currently have 13 staff members and i'm sorry eileen i thought we had a
slide for this so i i don't have the breakdown of the consensus so i think it's about uh we got
five full-time staff about five contractors and no eight contractors after that excuse my math
No, that's okay. All of the staff that will be on site on a daily basis are my directors. My director of perinatal equity, my clinical director, myself as the executive director, and my director of policy and coordinating.
The others that are contractors, which we contract with psychotherapists, we contract with doulas, we contract with lactation professionals.
Those people will come in as their schedule permits.
And we also will provide them a space to have their virtual schedules if they are the ones they need to get out of the house to have their visit and their client is the one who is staying home on that day.
So we have approximately 20 clients that may come in person on a daily basis.
Throughout the day.
Correct.
Okay. And how long are the scheduled appointments?
50 minutes for your therapy session. So we'll give it an hour and five minutes once you check in,
50 minutes for your therapy session. So we'll give it an hour.
leave your session, get back to your car. So people may be on site for a little over an hour.
Our doula visits and lactation appointments are up to 90 minutes because those are a little more
in-depth in the questioning around planning for their birth and going through that. And also the
lactation visits are a little longer because they measure the baby before and after feeding.
But these will be staggered. So if you have somebody coming in for that 90 minutes,
you won't have somebody else coming in until obviously that 90 minutes is up.
Not necessarily. If we have two people that are there to see their doula at the same time,
one will go in each lactation suite or doula suite.
Okay. But not a steady stream.
No. So we won't have 20 people an hour, two to three people per hour,
depending on the clinicians that are on site.
And you mentioned, as did I, that this was a daycare center for many, many years. So you have people coming and going and dropping their children off. Assuming some of your clients are going to be driving, would you anticipate that it would not be a substantial increase in any traffic flow?
It is not my belief that it will be a substantial increase in any traffic flow, because if we think about a traditional workday, which is nine to five, you also give yourself a half an hour hour to commute.
So maybe an eight to six. Our doors close at seven Monday through Thursday.
And so our parking for the clients that we do have should not interrupt the current functionality of the residents that are close by.
It is our hope that we are gone by the time they get settled home, bath, bed and dinner.
All right. And as I noted, stated earlier, and I think you can confirm that, and if you can,
please do so. Across the street, there are other properties and these are multifamily and up the
street, it's a whole commercial strip. It's a CMX 2.5 on the 5,000 block. Correct. I also want to
point out that we are not trying to turn the building into a commercial property. We weren't
looking for something that wasn't zoned correctly. However, we found this place and we are able to
conceptualize what our services would look like and did take into consideration the impact on
the community. We figure in our minds, if there are families coming through the daycare center,
the upwards of 70 children a day closed on holidays and probably vacation times or summer
times, that we would mirror that and even less with the population of people that we are serving.
So from our perspective, it does not create an undue burden on the nearing neighbors to have the additional people here to solicit this service, because there are commercial, there is a commercial corridor very close by.
We're not trying to turn this one into a commercial corridor.
We're trying to take a business that has been functioning for the last hundred years, which is being a church and then a daycare center, and then putting our services in that same with a little upgrade so we can meet the needs of our clients.
Okay, thank you. So, I believe it's near, I believe there's a bus.
Yes, Wayne Junction is within a mile. There's a bus route outside of the building at each corner
that it stops. So we do anticipate with serving the direct community that could walk in or catch
public transportation to the office and every single person will not drive. In addition, I am
a community member just a little outside of this jurisdiction on Rittenhouse Street, and I could
essentially walk to work if I desired to as well. Okay, great. Thank you. So you've touched on how
this meets the needs of the Ocean Family Center. So in your opinion, as an expert in maternal and
family, mental health and wellness. If the variances for the property, for personal services
and for the health practitioner are denied for this property, would that result in an unnecessary
hardship? Yes, it will result in an unnecessary hardship. And what I would like to point out is
the opposition from the RCOs is not that our program isn't adequate, that we're not impacting
the community in a positive way, that our services are not needed. It is the fear that we will and
then turn this into a substance use or a recovery center in the near future. So I'd like to honor
that and understand the fear of the community, but also asking for some leniency to take a risk
that we will do what we said that we are going to do, which is to have a maternal wellness center
that does not include substance use or opioid use disorder.
substance use, or opioid use disorder. Unfortunately, it does require you to take a
Unfortunately, it does require you to take a chance.
chance, and I know the statistics say that 65% of businesses fail in the first 10 years,
but we are six years in, and we have sustainable funding to make sure that our program is around.
Us purchasing this building is in our plan to have longevity in Philadelphia, so families for
generations can come to that center and get the healing and wellness that they need. So it will
be an undue burden on the organization and the community at large to not have these services
and the ability to walk in and have your appointment on a day-to-day basis.
And that's what you clearly stated is what you've been about for the past 15 years.
Correct.
So, in your opinion, would you think that this, the grant of variance for the use of
the property would endanger the public health, safety, and general welfare? And I think you
pretty much stated opposite, but let's just answer the question so we can get through the
variance criteria. Black maternal morbidity and mortality is a public health issue, which is why
I lend my time to the Maternal Mortality Review Committee on an annual basis to review the deaths
that have occurred in Philadelphia County
for birthing people.
This is an epidemic
and we are fighting against it.
And our radical way of fighting against it
is making sure that our services
are prominent and a staple
in the community.
So what about
impacting
in a negative way
the adjacent
properties?
In your opinion, will this use impact adjacent properties?
The proposed use for this property will not negatively impact the adjacent properties because we are servicing the same families that have been serviced over the last hundred years.
Churches brought together community members, brought together families.
The daycare center brought together community members and families.
And we are doing the same thing.
The thing that people most fear is when we use the term mental health, but everybody needs some wellness. So that's why it is not that we are going to negatively impact. We aren't bringing people who are going to destroy the neighborhood. We want to be good neighbors. We want to be servants in our community the same way that we are for the larger birth worker community.
And those are our intentions.
If there is going to be an issue that comes up, it is the projection of what it could be if we are not there.
So to make sure that when we are looking at those RCO letters, it outlines that it is not a problem with our services and what we are presenting.
It is a problem with the variance being for medical use that could potentially allow at some point in time a rehab center.
And yes, and for the record, that is not something that is your issue. That's the zoning code. That's how it's worded. That's what it covers. That's not within your control.
Correct. So our services providing reproductive psychotherapy, being able to provide doula and lactation support and other holistic modalities of healing should not disturb the close neighbors at all.
That's not a loud process.
And I want to emphasize that the reason why we don't necessarily want to be on a commercial
corridor where it's very walkable is that there's a lot of traffic.
When you are in your therapy session, for any of those who have been to therapy, the
one thing you value most is the stillness and the silence of what could be not going
on around you.
You get an opportunity to sit in the office and this time is about you.
I'm not worried about what's going on outside of the door.
there's not anybody sitting outside panhandling or any of those things we want to create a safe
space for our clients and our staff all right and um eileen eileen let me let me ask a question
how much longer do you think you'll be on direct well i'm wrapping up with um miss mcneil and then
i have the design professional who's coming on her her questions will be shorter though okay
We're really going kind of long here.
And just to wrap it up, you don't, in your opinion, you don't believe that this is going to have a negative impact or adversely affect any transportation or public facilities?
And is this the minimum variance that we can get in order for you to use the property?
And there's no creation of any environmental issues, correct?
creation of any environmental issues, correct? No. We're not doing anything to the outside of
We're not doing anything.
the building, the outside of the property? Correct. Besides upkeep and maintenance.
Thank you. All right. Thanks, Ms. McNeil. I would just ask that Humana Valley be...
Hold on. Hold on. I'm sorry.
Eileen, we do have Mr. Anastasia. Do you have any questions?
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Mr. Anastasia.
mr chair i have no questions right now thank you uh next witness please eileen
yes and thank you thank you to your witness too thank you uh humana valley please um raise your
hand so you they can elevate you as a panelist they have been hard to speak i do you go ahead
Please state your name and spell for the sonographer.
My name is Ximena Valle, and it's spelled X-I-M-E-N-A, and my last name is V-A-L-L-E.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Please proceed, Eileen.
Thank you.
Ms. Valle, thank you.
As you can see, I have up on the screen Exhibit 20.
Is this your resume?
It is. And can you please explain your educational background?
Sure. I have a master's degree in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.
I am a registered architect, and I've been practicing architecture for the last 18 years.
And can you describe your work experience in the field?
Certainly. At this moment, my present position is I am co-owner and founder of 15. We're an
architecture and design firm here in Philadelphia. Over the last seven years, I've been working
closely with PHMC, that's Public Health Management Corporation. And in that capacity, our team has
been their architect, working with them to find locations and design spaces for programs very
similar to those that Ms. McNeil has described, including Visiting Nurses Association, Community
mental health, health promotion council, nurse family practitioners, national-led consortium,
and turning points for children. And as their architect, we've really investigated properties
all over the city, helping them find the right match for those services. And can you just,
you might have said it, and I apologize, how long have you been an architect?
18 years. And do you have experience with the adaptive reuse of buildings,
especially in the context of ocean family center and what they're looking for in a space
we do so i would like to offer uh miss valley as an expert witness
um mr anastasio
yes mr chair do you do you have any comments about that none whatsoever thank you please proceed uh
Ms. Quigley. Thank you, Chairman Burke.
So, Ms. Vallee, your co-owner, can you briefly explain your involvement with the Ocean Family
Center? Yes, I've been overseeing this project as one of the principals involved since last
November when Salima and her team first joined us here in our office to begin to consider what
the programming needs would be as part of the feasibility study with the Community Design
collaborative organization that we're very familiar with and work with often in that capacity.
And can you just explain the overall purpose of that study that you've mentioned? And so did
Ms. McNeil. Of course. Yeah. And so this is a service that we provided early on and worked
with Salima's team to identify initially conceptually what would be the programmatic
needs to meet what she wants to do with the program. And so that work involved honing in
on the kinds of spaces that would best serve the specific services that she described. And so in
those discovery sessions, we talked about really critical things for her programs and for her
clients, as she said, to feel safe, to feel welcome, to feel comforted, to find a space that
had a kind of retreat sort of feeling about it, that it had green space around it, and these are
common requirements for this kind of work. In all of our work with PHMC, for example, what makes the
looking for a facility quite challenging is that we need a space that defies what people might
think of when they think of a public health institution, and instead of seeming institutional,
actually feels welcoming and comforting to the clientele.
So we worked conceptually to identify the spaces, the sizes of the spaces,
the sizes of the spaces, the need for windows, for daylight, the circulation requirements.
the need for windows, for daylight, the circulation requirements.
And during that process, Ms. McNeil and her team, working along with a real estate advisor,
found this location. And so the second part of our study was really focusing in
on understanding how this facility met those needs and provided an opportunity
for the experience that her clients need in terms of healing to be provided.
So you did this study conceptually, and then you were able to, they found this space, the 5114 Wayne Avenue. And in your opinion, did the Wayne Avenue property align with the mission of the Oshun Family Center?
Absolutely. It is my professional opinion that this building perfectly suits the mission and the needs of the Oshun Family Center.
The fact, I know commercial property has been mentioned a number of times, the traditional
kind of commercial property, which would have tenants on either side, or sometimes you would
be asked to go through a security checkpoint in order to get to the location, bring a number
of challenges that this facility here actually does not have to do, and in that regard, provides
an excellent location for her programs.
Yes, I believe when we had talked, I mean, we say, quote, unquote, commercial because of the zoning districts, but this is technically a business use.
Correct.
Similar to the previous use.
Correct.
And how does the space, and you may have said this, but I think it bears repeating that, how does the space accommodate these services and programs?
but but counsel i i really do think the last witness really talked about that to a great
extent i mean i i know you said it bears repeating but i i just don't want to keep repeating testimony
really okay i can go to just our final questions then i i think um miss valley did explain why the
space is uh important i just want to have you explain very briefly why a property in a commercial
strip would not be conducive sure i mean two examples there are one as we can envision the
number of windows and daylight a commercial property on a commercial strip whether it be
a shopping mall or or just down the road like along wayne avenue would not be able to provide
daylight for each one of the therapy rooms in the way that we're able to do that and that is a big
um that is a big asset here and similarly the um just the approachability of the entrance and the
access to the green space and the respite and looking out to nature outside the windows rather
than a busy, you know, car or vehicular congestion. So in your professional opinion,
would you believe that the denial of the variances for the property would create a
hardship for Ocean Family? I do. I can say in my experience, looking for appropriate locations for
programs that bring healing to communities, like the one that Oshun is providing, can take years
to find. This is a really unique find, and I am certain that it would be a hardship to not be able
to perform these services here. And do you, in your opinion, believe that the grant of variance
will increase the danger of fire or endanger the public health, safety, or general welfare?
no and in your opinion does the grant of variance um substantially or permanently injure use of
adjacent properties or impact light and air no and will it adversely affect affect transportation
or public facilities it is my opinion that it will be no different um or perhaps less congestion than
what could have been, what's expected or experienced when this location was a school.
And this is the minimum variance, correct?
It's for use.
Correct.
Thank you, Ms. Valley.
Thank you, Chair Bergman and members of the board and Mr. Anastasio for allowing us to
complete our testimony.
Mr. Anastasio, you have any questions to the architect?
I have none, Mr. Chair.
Vern, how long do you think your presentation will be?
Five minutes.
please proceed thank you uh may i uh share my screen please you can oh i'm sorry that's okay
and i think the host might uh have to allow me to do so
excuse me mr chair please proceed thank you mr chair i've already submitted this uh package
uh into uh evidence it's a 53 page uh exhibit packet
It's 43 of the pages are letters from immediate neighbors.
And 43 of the pages are letters from immediate neighbors in opposition to the use.
And I'm just going to go through them very quickly, if you might, if you allow me.
Oscar Beiser, can you see these, Mr. Chair, or no?
We're seeing blank pages, Vernon.
As am I.
Okay, hold on for one second.
Let's try again.
We have photos of the property
in relation to uh mr beisert's property okay a list of reasons of opposition from mr beisert and
then uh 10 pages of letters of opposition okay uh this is the the property back here is the
property in question it literally backs up onto my client's property uh he is the most impacted
adjacent neighbor this is his home and here's the property in question which by the way is zoned
for residential single-family use.
Here it is again.
Here's my client's property,
and here's the subject property in question.
It is literally right next door and abuts.
I'm going to pass over the reasons for the opposition
because I'll talk about that,
But I do want to talk about, show you that various letters in objection from 5114.
That's our property.
I'm sorry.
As you can see here, 5121, 5111, 5117.
do you want to
5121 sorry yep there you go
so you have 10 paid 5123 10 pages of immediate neighbors and let me tell you what's going on
5114. For several years, Mr. Chair, this block has been single family, mostly some multifamily.
In the last several years, these multifamily properties on the block have actually done
something that doesn't happen a whole lot in Philadelphia. They've returned to single family
use. So there is a concerted effort in the immediate neighborhood to turn these properties
back into single-family homes. They're large, and they take some upkeep. But that was a concerted
effort from the neighbors to turn these properties back from multifamily into single-family.
Now, yes, my property, my client bought his property and moved in right adjacent to this property where it was a daycare center.
But to have it as a medical facility sort of brings this into a new category that my client is just not prepared to accept.
And neither is most of the folks on the block.
I want to just get to the legal issues.
There is no physical attribute to this property, none whatsoever, either unique to its physicality
or unique to its place, where it could not be used for its proposed and preferred use
by the city code. None. And even if it were, what the applicant is proposing is simply not
the least restrictive variance that one would seek one would seek if it were the least restrictive
multi-family dwelling which may in fact be something that my client and his neighbors
could in fact live with but what they're asking for is beyond the least restrictive
it's beyond something that any unique physical condition would require
And, as you've heard testimony, that there is, in fact, a commercial corridor just feet away, where, in fact, this use, the proposed use, which my client and the opponents certainly believe is necessary for the city of Philadelphia.
and as you've heard testimony that there is in fact a commercial
That use is necessary, it's needed, and there is a demand for that use, but it's just not here.
That use should be somewhere within 500 feet.
There are several properties that are zoned so that this particular use could be used as a matter of right.
And the seller of this property, the person who owns this property, is not under any particular hardship because they put it up for sale.
the applicant is not under any particular hardship because they didn't purchase the property so
they've purchased they've they're under contract for this property and you know if this were sold
already we may be having a different conversation if if these this applicant had bought the property
thinking they could use it for their proposed use then i'm in it may you know may not even be here
but the fact of the matter is they have not done so. So any particular hardship that may occur
would have been completely self-imposing in this particular instance. There is no unique
physical condition that would make this variance something that we could support,
especially the immediate neighbor. This proposed use is not, by any stretch of the imagination,
the least restrictive variance that the adjacent neighbor or my client could support.
And furthermore, the neighborhood itself has several zoned pieces of real estate
that could readily accept the use that this operator would like to operate in.
So for all of those reasons, I do believe, you know, and again, I've scratched my head
looking for some sort of way out of that.
There's no hardship here.
There's no reason to grant this variance.
I'm going to ask my client to come on and to talk about how it will immediately impact
him with respect to congestion.
By the way, although it will be by appointment only, and I have every reason to believe that
those who have testified have testified truthfully, but there will be 15 staff members, which is
three times as much as the number of staff that currently exist for the daycare. Going from a
daycare facility to a medical facility is a big jump. And again, there's no argument that this
use in the city at large is something that is necessary and needed. But in a residential
neighborhood, on a residential block, where multifamilies are actually being converted to
single families, we do believe this is just a bit too far. And with that, I'd like to call
Oscar Beiser to the stand. And Vern, how long will Oscar be on?
two minutes
hi could you please hi sir could you please shake your name and spell for the court stenographer
Oscar Beisert O-S-C-A-R last name Beisert B-E-I-S-E-R-T right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth I do please proceed sir thank you Mr. Chair
wanted to thank you and i'm just trying to give mr bizer i'm going to ask you three questions
first okay sure did you hear my presentation to the board i did did you uh uh believe it to be
true and accurate to the best of your knowledge i do you accept it as your own testimony
i do i do okay and do you have anything to add yes go ahead so um i just wanted to uh go over
a few points as to why I'm opposed to this variance. I'm not against this program. I think
it's an amazing program. Ms. McNeil sounds like an amazing person and leader. This is about how
this property is zoned. Germantown was built by a lot of different giants and different entities
and almost all of them are gone now. Nothing lasts forever. What does last for her unfortunately is
zoning unless, you know, there's a major change of use at the site. My house is
Unless, you know, there's a major change of use at the site. My house is, is sort of surrounded by this property on at least two sides. The block is, despite what has been said previously, the block is almost entirely residential, except at the corners.
I wanted to add that while my house is single family, this house is also, I mean, this property also is adjacent, meaning lots, the lots that touch it on Newhall Street and Wayne consist of 10 single family houses and one triplex.
That is not exactly a dense, you know, a typical Philadelphia, you know, apartment, street of apartments.
I wanted to add that despite the applicant's tended use, there is no guarantee that the funds will be raised to renovate the property or that the applicant will remain at the property in perpetuity.
As I said, the zoning will, though, and that's that's a big problem for for me and many of my neighbors.
As you know, this would allow for all different manner of uses, medical uses that would be inappropriate for a residential block
and certainly inappropriate for a building that's not located immediately upon the street and is behind and close to other people's rear yards.
As a daycare, the property was generally open five days a week, usually during traditional hours.
There were intense periods of drop-off at each end of the day.
The same parents and children, for the most part, come every day.
You know exactly who they are as a resident.
It's a very pleasant neighbor.
The most annoying thing is the sounds of kids playing.
It's a fairly pleasant use.
The proposed change would lead to, as my attorney said, 15 employees potentially,
and that means and as well as dozens of people coming which means to means possibly 15 parking
spaces and um dozens of people parking on the block throughout the day and even after you know
by the time people they close people have already been home from work by seven o'clock and they
won't be able to park um additionally um my house shares a sidewalk with the subject building that
was created by an easement years ago the proposed use will increase the number of adult people using
the sidewalk throughout the day. It will increase my liability, my risk as a property owner.
Additionally, my primary entry and porch faces onto the shared sidewalk. So that will increase,
you know, that will lead to further diminishment of my privacy all throughout the day, which is
not the case with the daycare. The applicant is also proposing to use a portion of the interior
as community space for meetings with something like 30 laptops for community use. I do fear
that that could turn into a lot of traffic um you know additional traffic in the residential
in a residential block um the proposed change also uh has the potential and i and i'm not this
is nothing against the program but it does have a potential given what could be used if this
occupant leaves um to devalue my home as a single family residence um as well as other single family
and small multifamily buildings on the block.
There were like a couple vacant, as my attorney said,
several vacant houses and flat houses
have been returned to single-family use,
which is pretty unusual.
Germantown Avenue is just a few blocks away
with innumerable vacant storefronts and buildings.
There are 18th century houses
that have a residential feeling that need to be redone.
There are all manner of building types
along germantown avenue like an old town um and many of them need probation and could serve
you know could could be could be purchased and not have a commercial feeling but have a
residential feeling but still be on the commercial corridor um you know i and i did want to just add
that we have um we have panhandlers on wayne avenue too they're friendly so just don't worry
about that i mean there are panhandlers on germantown avenue and on wayne avenue um the
properties, you know, as my attorney said, there are letters to opposition from 36 near neighbors
and numerous other neighbors that are just outside the boundary. It is my belief that
the subject building can remain a daycare or be converted to residential use. I would certainly
support a few apartments in the building if that were an option. And I just believe that
given the potential uses that could come under medical, given that no business, no entity is
permanent, it would be wrong for the middle of a residential block. Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
Biser. Mr. Chair, because there's no evidence of apparent hardship, a physical hardship, because
Because there's no evidence of apparent hardship, a physical hardship, because there's absolutely
no evidence that this proposal is the least restrictive variance requested, and because
there's ample evidence of opposition from all of the immediate neighbors, and especially
the most impacted, I respectfully request that this variance at appeal be denied.
I'm going to yield to the council member's office because I believe they have something to say.
Thank you. Hold on a minute. Eileen, do you have any questions of that witness?
No, I just have some follow up. I mean, it's zoned RM1. Whether or not people use it as a
single family, it can still be used as multifamily. There's no denying that Wayne Avenue is a mixture
of residential and residential can be single family, multifamily, twin. There's all a matter
of residential. You're dropping this use in a residential neighborhood is a little disingenuous
because there are multifamily properties that can be across the street. Even if you're converting,
somebody can convert it back. To say that they would be on board for a multifamily use here,
we do not know that. You'd still have to go for a variance. So it doesn't seem that
that's any less restrictive. You still have to go through the same process,
multifamily is multifamily. You'd have other people that you do know or don't know. You have
cars. You have the same issues. All right. So listen to me. Mr. Chair, if they want to put a
multifamily development in there, then- I know. But you can say that, but nobody can say it.
Listen to me. Eileen, listen to me. Everybody knows that. Both you stop. Both. So here's where
we're going to go. This has went for a lot longer. We still have four or five cases from the two
o'clock list. I'm going to have a resumptive hearing for this. When we come back, we'll go
to the board, we'll go to the audience, and then we'll go to Planning Commission, okay? But we're
going to have a resumptive hearing because we have to go on with the day. Let Ms. Quigley speak,
please you're muted eileen i'm sorry i'm sorry chair i just wanted to for the record let everybody
know that we did not we were not aware of mr anastasio's engagement until this morning
we have not looked at any letters i i'm just letting the board know so you're going to have
your chance to say that there's going to this is going to go to a resumptive hearing we we just got
to move okay oh that's fine i understand and thank you to both you and thank you for your
witnesses. Okay. Thank you for your time. All right. Thank you.
Number 10, MI 2024-003-578-1401 North Delaware Avenue. Stephanie Boggs of Magna is the attorney.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, can we please jump to 11 and 12 next due to a scheduling issue? Thank you.
Number 11, MI 2024-003-723, 2736 Germantown Avenue.
Al Nockamson is the attorney.
There is no RCO letter at this point.
The meeting was held July 18th.
Maybe Mr. Nockamson may have it.
There was also a petition signed by 29 neighbors in favor of this.
uh mr chair a letter did excuse me a letter did um come through um i think it was right before
hearings this afternoon um and i believe mr knockamson will go over it if not i can read
it into the record i believe there are some concerns expressed by the rco okay mr knockamson
sorry i wasn't actually i i wasn't paying attention to you know me being called so i
apologize for the delay sure sure um just state your name for the record alan knockamson could
you identify your client and relationship to the property so which matter is this this is the third
street or this is 2736 germantown okay yes my client is there's a doctor in the house ministries
the owner of the property and then the virtual audience is uh theresa lonti and our vice chair
has a few questions good afternoon counsel do you agree to wave the reason of the refusal
or stipulate towards accuracy i do have you emailed them all the required documents and
exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing uh yes we have
thank you council please proceed and share your screen thank you
hi so i am presenting 27
Hi. So I am presenting 2736 Germantown Avenue. What we're proposing to do is essentially rebuild
the church that, unfortunately, that church building had to be demolished a few years ago
because of structural issues with it. So currently it's a vacant lot. And you'll see from, you know,
the presentation materials, the variances that we're seeking are identical to what the previous
building, what was previously there. So we're seeking two variances, which you'll see in the
presentation materials, but in terms of occupied area and rear yard depth, you know, what we're
seeking is, you know, what was a building structure that was there before. The use is allowed as of
right. This is a CMX2 property. So during our presentation, we'll review first a notice of
refusal. Then I would say this afternoon sometime we finally received the correspondence from the
12th and Cambria Advisory Board. I will say this. We had a meeting. We had a vote. The majority of
the people in the virtual audience, I don't remember if it was an in-person meeting or
a virtual meeting, but the people who showed up to the community meeting voted in favor of this.
Apparently, the representative from the coordinating RCO, Oso, reached out to the neighbors behind us on Warnock Street, independent of the community meeting.
And again, I guess some of those neighbors were against it, but did not show up to the community meeting.
And because they were against it, you know, he indicated that in the letter.
So I'm not 100 percent sure of the position of the coordinating RCO, but we had a certified meeting where a majority of the members of the community who attended that meeting were in support of this project.
In addition, my clients independently canvassed the neighborhood and we have a petition in support of this project.
Again, my client has had this congregation in this neighborhood for over a generation.
So the people in this community are very excited about the fact that the church is going to be rebuilt and even better than it was before.
So we do have a petition to support.
We have the property history shows that this was a church before.
We have an aerial view of the neighborhood in this particular vicinity.
We have maps of the area, both Zoni and Google Maps.
We have photographs of the property in the surrounding area.
We have our plans and drawings, which we'll go through. Chris Johnson of 24-7 Design designed this beautiful building. And I'm hoping that he's still in the virtual audience and can answer any architectural questions here that I cannot.
We have the RCO meeting notice, along with proof of mailing that notice, our application for appeal, our deed to the property, showing that the church owns the property, and the certificate of tax clearance.
Again, I would ask that at the conclusion of my presentation, Teresa Lundy, the representative of the church, virtually raise her hand.
I have a few questions for her, and then obviously we'll be more than happy to answer any questions the board or the community may have of us.
Notice the refusal.
So this is a CMX2 property, you know, and what we're looking to do is just, you know, put a church on the building and on the property.
And we have two refusals.
The occupied area where 75% is allowed.
We're proposing 94.4%.
And there's a reason.
Well, first, the history of the property or the previous property, you know, what we're offering or proposing mimics what was previously there.
And there's other rationale behind it, too, including putting an elevator in there, an ADA-compliant bathroom, which requires us to push the property back a little bit.
And given the size of our congregation, given that the surrounding properties also run afoul of this zoning provision, we don't think it's out of character.
And we hope that the board finds similarly.
The second refusal has to deal with the rear yard depth where nine feet is required and five feet is proposed. Again, given the history of the property and the former building structures configuration, which also ran afoul of this requirement and the surrounding neighboring properties, also many of them ran afoul of this requirement.
We're asking that the board allow us to do the same.
Here's our correspondence from the 12th and Cambria Advisory Board.
So in the letter, it does say that five people supported this project, three people did not, and two people abstained.
They did separately canvas the neighborhood in the rear on Warnock Street.
And again, in verbal discussions, Alex Goldberg had with the
And again, in verbal discussions Alex Goldberg had with the coordinating ERCO's representative, and even in this email, they don't state that they're against the project because of the actual variance requests.
Here we go.
What they're saying is, well, why can't you just use one of the other church, empty church buildings on Germantown Avenue, essentially?
And our thing is this, we own this building.
It was previously a church in this building.
on this property, why should we be forced then to either purchase another property
or lease another property that has a church building already in there?
It's not like we're creating this from scratch, essentially.
What we're trying to do is replace a church building that had to be demolished.
And then so we did, you know, to canvas, or my client did canvas the neighborhood,
and there's a petition, well, you know, well-written petition with the amount of people
that signed this in support of this project and then the property history again shows that this
has been a church previously and then the aerial view of the property i don't think this really
does a good enough job although you see both sides you can see the building structures
kind of almost taking full uh full the full lot i think there's another thing that i have on atlas
which shows the shadow effect of the buildings and how far
back they actually go. Maps of the area, this is a commercial
corridor, CMX2. You know, behind us is RM1,
not out of character, and by rights to allow for a church.
But I think this is the better photograph
from Atlas. You can see that, you know, the city hasn't even replaced
like the church building on here. You know, it's not considered
of the vacant lot yet. But you can see that the previous building almost had full lot coverage.
And there's many buildings on here that almost have full lot coverage. So it's not out of character.
And there is an Islamic child care center here. There's a lot of religious institutions nearby.
It kind of goes with the flow of what you would expect on the 2700 block or nearby
on Germantown Avenue. And then you can see here, again, just from a Google Maps perspective where
we are, we're between, you know, we're just between Somerset and Silver on Germantown Avenue.
And then photographs of the property. This is what the building structure looked like previously
before it was demolished.
And then this is our proof of posting for today's hearing,
but you can see we're just a vacant lot now.
And then this is Germantown Avenue to the right of the property,
to the left of the property.
And then our plans and drawings.
You can see, like, again, we're matching the scale of the building to the right of us.
We have a more modern look with three stories now,
Now, as opposed to what it was previously, that's a nice view of the property as well.
And then you can see that, you know, our open area is limited, but not out of character to what, you know, surrounding properties are.
And then what we would say is this. We have an elevator now in the building and we have ADA bathrooms.
The elevator in itself has added square footage or has taken away from square footage, which we would have, but for the fact that this elevator, and there's no necessity for the elevator, but our congregation is elderly, or there's some members that are elderly, and we thought it was important, especially if we're going to build this church back up from scratch, to respect them, the elders of the community.
So we put an elevator here and then the ADA toilet as well, which is a requirement.
It takes a lot of space, which pushes the sanctuary back further.
So we're trying to have it as roomy as possible.
The sanctuary is only for 46 people, so it's not a huge amount of people.
But we're trying to accommodate as much as possible as they rebuild the church.
And here's the basement level.
There's a baptism pole and then a multipurpose room as well.
Again, community-oriented room, you know, for activities at a church.
And then if you look at the second floor, again, more activities for the church for overflow.
And then even the third floor is more for reception area and things like that.
Again, for overflow, for community activities that the church may have.
In our RCO meeting notice, we met with the community on July 18th at 7 p.m.
We emailed that notice two weeks beforehand as well to the coordinating RCO, as well as the relevant other relevant parties to this matter. 137 addresses were mailed the notice. These are the addresses that were mailed the notice, along with proof of mailing that notice. And that was all emailed to those individuals on that email on July 3rd.
We emailed that notice two weeks beforehand as well to the coordinating RCO.
And then this is our application for appeal that we filed on behalf of the church.
The deed to the property.
Again, my client has owned this property for some time.
And then finally, the certificate of tax clearance.
So with that being said, I would ask that Ms. Lundy virtually raise her hand to be sworn in.
I have been allowed to speak I'm Miss Lundy could you please state your name and spell
for the stenographer good morning Teresa Lundy t-e-r-e good morning hi could you spell
your name please absolutely t-e-r-e-s-a last name lundi l-u-n-d-y do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth always please proceed counsel yes uh miss
lundi you heard everything i had to state today yes uh and is it true and correct yes it is and
do you adopt it as your own testimony? No. Do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes. Thank you. So I just have a couple of pointed questions. Like, again, the demolition
of the property was because of structural issues that would not default to the church, right?
Correct. And the previous building structure that was on the property is basically the same
dimensions as to what is being proposed today, other than the height, but the depth of the
building is basically the same. Is that correct? Absolutely. To the T, it actually went a little
further. I know, and it's important to your congregation to have a church building
in the neighborhood. Is that right? It is. Long term, probably over 16 years,
we was actually renting. Um, and so, uh, I'm actually the church administrator and my mother's
the overseer. So she's been a pastor for over 24 years. And so she, um, you know, we had got a 30
day notice that where we were for the past 15 years, um, they decided that they were selling
the building. Um, they actually, the whole corridor. So, um, this is kind of how this came
about. And I never wanted to make sure we go through this place again, where we are not in
the space of actually owning the building where we have, you know, determination when we close our
doors. And, you know, the one change is the interior change is the, you're investing money
in an elevator to help the older congregants, you know, go up and down the floors. That's right.
Absolutely.
We have a small ministry, and that's why this works for us so perfectly.
Most of them, so like before, when we were in Northeast, we had about 18 stairs.
They were a bit deep.
And the members that are currently still active and with us are over 65.
And so it just didn't make sense.
And that's kind of what we budgeted for and kind of looking at, you know, what is that minimum investment?
So we'll still have stairs, but we're also going to have an elevator again.
One, it just makes sense.
But then two, it gives more affordability for those in the neighborhood to also, you know,
I don't want to go to the second floor, but we have an elevator.
Oh, well, maybe I'll stop in.
So it does give the opportunity for them to come in.
All right.
Well, thank you so much for your time.
Questions from the board?
What size congregation did you say there was?
I thought I heard 46 in the sanctuary or the seatings,
the seatings, 46 for 46 people in the sanctuary.
Miss Lundy, how big, how large is your congregation?
Ms. Lundy, please unmute
thank you so i will say actively excuse me forgive me my voice actively um those that
Thank you
So I will say actively
Excuse me, I forgive
show up on facebook is probably you know 12 um but in church in person is probably like six to ten
okay thank you you're welcome other questions from the board
questions are kind of from our attorney hillary emerson
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I do not see any further hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Hi, Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning from CMX 2 to CMX 2.5,
both commercial mixed use. Under the recommended zoning, the refusals will remain the same.
The occupied area and rear yard setback are consistent with nearby properties and the
footprint of the former building on this site. Therefore, the City Planning Commission recommends
that the board grant the requested variances for occupied area and rear yard setback.
MI 2024-003-723-2736 Germantown Avenue. I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes
Daya Wood, my vote is yes
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes
So number 12, MI 2024
003-725-785 South 3rd Street
It's Mr. Knockamson
There's a letter of support from Queen Village Neighbors
and also a letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla
i'm sorry mr notkinson is coming back in as a panelist okay
hi alan notkinson all right uh mr notkinson could you identify your client
in a relationship to their properties oh yes his name is uh chris duraco he is the owner of the
property i mean excuse me joe duraco sorry okay and our vice chair has a few questions
Good afternoon, Council. Do you agree to either read another refusal or stipulate to us that?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you. Thank you, Council. Please proceed to share your screen.
Thank you.
so this is a legalization of two parking spots that have existed on this lot since as far back
as my client knows and again this has been in existence my client's owned this property since
1986 and it's not out of character to have off-street parking on this block of Fulton Street
So we'll review, you know, first notice of refusal. We have a letter of support from the Queen Village Neighbors Association.
My understanding from the chairman is that we also have a letter of non-opposition from the district council member, Swilla.
We'll review like photographs of the 200 block of Fulton Street showing that the similar nearby off-street parking.
We're not taking any parking spot off the street. There's no parking allowed on the street.
So this really helps the neighborhood. This is a triplex. It's an R-in-1 property. So by allowing multiple parking spots off the street, it keeps two cars off the street as well.
So we also have maps of the area,
photographs of the property,
our plans and drawings,
our RCO meeting notice,
along with proof of mailing of that notice,
our application for appeal,
our deed to the property,
showing that Mr. Duraco has owned the property
since 1986,
as well as the certificate of tax clearance.
At the conclusion of my presentation,
I would ask that Mr. Duraco
virtually raise his hand and be sworn in.
So first, our notice of refusal.
Again, this is our R-1 property.
it's we have a triplex here we're not seeking you know that's a by right um uh by right outcome
we're not seeking to change the density of this property in any way we're just trying to legalize
the parking which has been in existence for as long as mr draco knows i guess you know he had
an issue where i don't know violation or something came up where you know we're just trying to you
know just you know dial our eyes across our t's so the letter from uh queens village uh neighbors
association stated that they're in support of this you know legalization of the two-par
car uh off-street parking um again my understanding is the council members is in non-opposition uh to
this request as well uh again not out of character to have off-street park
Again, not of character to have off street parking on the 200 block of Fulton Street. Here's 248 and 250 Fulton, also nearby 233, 31 and 219, 226-28, 224 Fulton Street.
I don't know.
And I guess Fulton goes, you know, street to street with Catherine.
So that's 219 Catherine Street, 217 Catherine Street.
Again, the rear of Catherine butts up against Fulton.
213 Fulton Street, A and B, 217 Fulton Street, A and B, 205-07 Catherine Street.
And then 772 South 2nd Street is nearby, 784 South 2nd Street, again nearby.
Right. Again, we're at the corner of Third Street and Fulton right here.
This corner property is an RM1 property.
This is from a Google Maps perspective.
Again, not that far off away from a major corridor.
Photographs of the property. This is our property.
This is just from Google Street View.
But as you can see, it's pretty wide for two car parking.
we don't and this is the property in 2011 so nothing's really changed other than the cars
that are there this is the front of the property from south third street side of the property from
fulton street this is the hearing notice posters for this property for both from both third street
and fulton street this is third street to the right of the property to the left of the property
Fulton Street to the right of the property. And as you can see, there's no parking allowed
on the street for Fulton Street on the left of the property.
Our plans and drawings are this. Very simple. I'm just trying to
legalize these two parking spots. This area
is 16 feet wide
and it's, let's see,
16.6 feet wide, 16 feet, six inches wide
and 16 feet deep.
We had a meeting on August 14th at 7.30 p.m.
We emailed that notice on July 24th
to the coordinating RCO and the relevant parties.
And what we emailed them was that notice
along with proof of mailing of that notice
to 188 addresses.
These are the addresses.
Proof of mailing to those addresses.
Our application for repeal that we filed on Mr. Duraco's behalf,
along with the notice of refusal and the project information form,
our deeds of property, showing that Mr. Duraco has owned it
for almost the past 40 years.
OR CERTIFICATE OF TAX CLEARANCE.
I WOULD NOW ASK THAT MR.
DORACCO VIRTUALLY RAISE HIS HAND AND BE SWORN IN.
DORACCO.
JOSEPH DORACCO HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO SPEAK.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Mr. Turaco?
I'm not sure if he's having technical difficulties, but he has been allowed to speak, and he is off of mute.
Mr. Turaco?
Mr. Nockamson, you're an officer of the court.
We will take your testimony.
Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Okay, planning commission.
Amy Boyd with the planning commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential multifamily
arm one zoning at this location the accessory parking is consistent with nearby uses pending
commission recommends that the board grant the proposed variance for accessory parking
mi 2024 003 725 785 south 3rd street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes
charles gaston my vote is yes denetta graham my vote is yes i am win my vote is yes
Tynetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Iowyn, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Number 10.
Thank you, Mr. Notkinson.
Number 10, MI 2024-003-578-1401-North Delaware Avenue.
Stephanie Boggs Magna is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from Fishtown Neighbors.
stephanie bachter is coming in any of the penilists
hi counsel could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer sorry stephanie s-t-e-p-h-a-n-i-e magania m-a-g-a-g-n-a
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
My client is Delaware River Events 1 LLC.
They are the licensee for a portion of the property.
All right.
And before our vice chair asks you a question, in conversation with our attorney, I understand
we're going to hold a vote on this.
Is that correct?
Correct.
I believe there's additional documentation about the current term and the active status
of that license agreement.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Council, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, but we do have a revised refusal dated May 28, 2024, so I will stipulate to the accuracy of that refusal.
Fair enough. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you, Council. Please proceed to share your screen.
now see that okay um so this application the property this the property that we're talking
about is the entire block bound by north delaware avenue east berks beach and palmer street here um
adjacent to the delaware river um specifically the entire block is owned by pico and it was
comprised of several parcels up until very recently when pico received approval to consolidate
the existing lot. Here's just a copy of the recent consolidation plan. There's been some
confusion about the address of this parcel because of how recent this consolidation was
confirmed. It was confirmed in April, right about the time we filed this. So the confirmation of new
address came in right about the time we were filing it. It's led to some confusion, but the
new address for the parcel is 1401 North Delaware Avenue. The property is zoned ICMX. It's also in
in the Central Delaware Overlay District.
And this application specifically only refers
to the Northeast most portion of the property.
As I mentioned, the entire site is owned by PICO.
The Southern half of it is operated
as an existing substation for PICO.
And the Northeast portion here,
which is what we're talking about,
has been underutilized.
Most recently it was approved
for equipment and material storage yard,
but it's been licensed by Delaware River One Events,
which is an affiliate entity to Chess Cafe event group for purposes of accessory parking to the battery located nearby.
As I mentioned, it was recently, most recently approved, this portion of the property for equipment and material storage yards and buildings,
so that it's current zoning.
But this application seeks approval to use this northernmost portion of the property as a surface non-accessory parking lot,
specifically for off-site accessory parking in connection with the Switch House,
which is the new Cheska venue located at the Battery Complex about one block away on Beach Street.
We are seeking the parking lot itself will be a service parking lot improved with gravel currently.
260 spaces will be accommodated primarily at this parking lot, but the lot will be valet only.
So customers, visitors, and guests to the switch house
will drop off their cars and pick them up at the battery,
the main entrance to the switch house at the battery.
And this will be a valet only parking lot.
We are also proposing landscaping improvements
along North Delaware Avenue,
which is the primary frontage of this application.
And specifically we're requesting a temporary variance here
given the nature of the license agreement
that we have with PICO.
So we are asking for relief from certain sections
of the code related to the temporary nature of that which I'll get into specifics but I did want
to show you kind of the logistics of how this is going to work so traffic will be controlled
by visitors being a one-way drop-off one-way pickup from the valet this is the main entrance
to the switch house at the battery and the valet will then take the cars to the accessory parking
lot and bring them back so the guests and visitors won't be accessing the parking lot at all all of
So the guests and visitors won't be accessing the parking lot at all.
All of that will happen at the main entrance of the switch house to control traffic.
that will happen.
And all of the attendants that are hired and employed by Chess Cafe here have been trained to recognize any signs for intoxicated driving and are familiar with the operations of the valet parking lot from their other experiences.
Here's just a diagram showing where the landscaping buffer is going to be proposed along North Delaware Avenue.
So we are proposing trees along this primary front edge, whereas the rest of the lot kind of faces back of house and the rest of the industrial district surrounding the battery.
So as I mentioned, we are seeking certain refusals and primarily those are related to the temporary nature of what we're asking for.
So we are asking for a temporary five year variance for the use as a non-accessory surface parking lot here.
um in connection with the valet nature of the valet only nature of this parking lot we are
also seeking relief from the bicycle parking requirements and the ada parking requirements
because guests and visitors again will not be visiting the parking lot directly they will be
picking up their cars and dropping them off exclusively at the main entrance to the switch
house um and while we are proposing landscaping along northdale robin which is the primary
frontage we are asking for relief um from other improvements other landscaping improvements here
given the temporary nature of the variance that we're asking for.
We did present this project to the Fishtown Neighbors Association at our community meeting on June 25th.
I'm happy to include their letter of support in the packet as well.
And I believe they're here today to speak on behalf of the project, potentially.
But I'll note that the vote in support of the project was 20 to 0, with one person abstaining.
um with that i'll bring it um i'll ask that joe volpe um with chest cafe raise his hand and identify
himself um so that he can adopt my testimony and we're happy to answer any questions joe if you
haven't done so can you please raise your hand they have been allowed to speak hi mr volpe could
you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer yeah it's joseph volpe j-o-s-e-p-h
V-O-L-P-E
Where are firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thanks, Joe. Did you hear the statements I made to the board this afternoon?
I did.
Are they correct and accurate?
They are.
Would you adopt them as your own?
I would, yes.
Thanks, Joe.
Questions from the board?
Questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hilary Emerson.
Thank you, Ms. Magana, for pointing out that the refusal was a revised refusal.
I was not aware of that.
So we will make sure that's included in the board's decision, along with the address that should have been on the refusal when it was issued.
Yes, and thank you.
I think I forgot to mention, we are submitting revised proviso plans.
Simply to note the correct parking count, it's noted correctly on the revised refusal.
It's 260 spaces approximately, so the plans have been updated to reflect that number.
Thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair, I have a hand up from Robert Everett.
I have allowed them to speak at this time.
Good evening, Mr. Everett.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yeah, good evening, everyone.
First name is Robert, last name Everett, E-V-E-R-E-T-T.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, sir.
Yes, I do.
Why don't you proceed?
We're going any further.
Thank you to Mr. Kelly, the course stenographer, for a long day so far.
Just here to verify what Ms. McAgnis said, and we're on board with support.
And if we have to come back again, we'll still be in support.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us. We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the first audience?
Planning Commission.
No further hand, sir.
Okay, Planning Commission.
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing industrial commercial mixed-use zoning, ICMX, at this location.
The appellant has not demonstrated that there are unique physical circumstances or conditions that would prevent the property from being used in conformancy with the zoning code.
The appellant plans to use the property as valet parking, but this is not defined in the code, and therefore there is no mechanism for enforcement.
Accessible parking spaces and bicycle parking mandates are meant to support access for those who are disabled or are right by bicycle.
Landscaping mandates serve to protect the environment and surrounding neighborhoods from heat effects.
Further, the plans show that the use of gravel parking surface, which is prohibited under
parking surface which is prohibited under the code chapter 14-803 the planning commission
the code chapter 14
recommends that the board deny the requested variances for non-accessory parking lack of
screening and interior landscaping accessible parking bicycle parking and street trees
we are going to hold the vote on this hillary this is closed except for
additional documents and then a vote from the board am i correct that is correct mr chair
Thank you, Counsel.
Thank you.
One more before we take a break.
MI 2024-003-729-5361-91, Chew Avenue.
Eileen Quigley is the attorney.
There's unanimous support from Chew and Bellfield Neighbors Club Incorporated.
They're coming back in as a panelist, sir.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
What's that?
Eileen Quigley-Ballard Spar.
You've already been sworn.
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
PNC Bank.
They are a tenant at the shops at LaSalle.
And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Counselor, do you agree to either read another refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
have you emailed in all the required documents that is needed to proceed with this case five
days in advance of this hearing we have with the exception of the tax clearance certificate
the client is working with the city and the owner with regard to that okay we can proceed
with this but we will not be able to vote until we receive the certificate understood
please please proceed and share your screen thank you
can you see the screen we can so we're here today because PNC Bank is moving
into an existing bank space at the shops at LaSalle 5361 to 91 Chu Avenue what
we're looking for is a variance for this accessory signage it's actually
building identification signage which obviously is necessary for the bank and you can see it here
so there are three signs they each they're the same size are about 46 square feet you're only
allowed to have 15 square feet in a residential district but obviously this is for a shopping mall
and to facilitate vehicular and pedestrian traffic and let people know where this bank is.
So we're asking for the board to acknowledge that this is a hardship
if we're not able to put the branding on this building.
Just to give you some idea, the one sign will be here along Chew Avenue,
and that's about 92 feet from Chew Avenue.
The second sign will be at the drive-through and that's over 300 feet from Church Lane the third flat walls
These are all flat wall signs. This actually is interior to the site and faces other stores
So it doesn't impact the streets or the surrounding neighborhood
As I said, this is these are channel letters. They're all internally illuminated
and that's what it'll look like at night so there's no glare there's no animation
it's all internal to the site um that's about it you have a representative from your for your
client tim stevens
um counsel you're an officer of the court will take your testimony questions from the
board i'm sorry not to speak i'm sorry oh good i sir could you please state your name and spell
for the court stenographer you can hear me correct i can okay tim stevens t-i-m stevens s-t-e-v-e-n-s
you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed counsel thank you chair bergman uh mr stevens you heard my presentation
Correct. Yes, I did.
And would you attest to its accuracy?
And Mr. Stevens, if you were to testify, would you adopt my presentation as your testimony?
Yes, I would.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No question.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Yes, Mr. Chair.
I just wanted to note, according to the Philadelphia Tax Center, the real estate taxes at this address are compliant.
so the board can vote on this matter thank you very much uh questions or comments from the virtual
audience mr chair i have a hand up from charles richardson i have allowed them to speak
Mr. Chair, I have a hand up from Charles Richardson. I have allowed him to speak.
Okay. Hi, Mr. Richardson.
Last one of the day.
We have several more, so thank you.
Last one of mine.
But the councilwoman has no opposition.
Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Richardson.
Have a good one. Take care.
Thank you.
Questions or comments? Planning Commission.
amy void with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends a change in
zoning from residential single family rsa1 to special purpose institutional spins
within spins designation only one side frontage is allowed with static illumination while such
sign exists on the property the proposed sign is consistent with the allowed uses
in this auto-oriented shopping center and will not have detrimental impacts on surrounding uses
therefore the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the requested variants for
signs thank you mi2024-003-729-5361 to 91 shu avenue i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes
general gaston my vote is yes tanetta graham my vote is yes i am win my vote is yes
thank you chair thank you council oh i'm sorry mr shahib may i just move our exhibits into evidence
you absolutely can yep thank you that concludes my business may i please be excused you can thank
you thank you is there any is there anyone in the uh virtual audience from the three o'clock list
whose case has not been called i mean i'm sorry two o'clock list
mr chair i have a hand up by a tiara or cherry i have allowed them to speak
sure i could you please state your name it's spelled for the court stenographer
tiara dortree t-i-a-r-a last name dortree d as in dog o-r-c-h-e-r-y
do you swear do you swear or firm to tell the truth told truth nothing but the truth
What case were you interested in?
I am here for the 3.30 for study strides.
We're going to be back in five minutes, okay?
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
All right.
We're going to take a five-minute break and we'll come back.
Everybody will take a five-minute break and we'll come back and knock these cases out.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's ZBA hearings.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismael Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Michael Johns.
Present here, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, Iwin.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney,
and Kathleen Grady, the Deputy Director for Zoning and Planning.
Here's our virtual format.
The proceedings are being recorded.
With your participation, you agree to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting Kathleen.Grady at phila.gov.
For a court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To an interference statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and address the property in question.
The question box on the screen is not for testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Deputy Director Kathleen Grady.
Let's look at our schedule.
Number one, MI 2024-001-895-1200 Alcott Street. That case has been continued. First listing.
Number two, MI 2024-001-897-2614 Pine Street. That case is continued.
Number five, MI 2024-001-934-4313 Lancaster Avenue. That case has been continued. Council
member got the a um is is sanya bookin book in here or the listed applicant fantastic futures
listed owner
does anyone hear from that case 43 30
Does anyone hear from that case? 4313, Lancaster, out.
So, I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, I do not see any hands raised for that, and I do not see anyone answering to those names in the audience.
So, MI 2024-001-934, this is the first listing. Case has been continued.
Number seven, MI 2024-001-938-2091 Bridge Street, that case is continued.
And number nine, MI 2024-004-348-2350 East Albert Street, that case is continued.
Are there any other requests for continuance?
Mr. Chair, this is Jason Hand.
I will be the co-host for the evening.
I do not see any further hands for continuances.
And number three, MI 2024, 001-898-966 Wakeling Street.
Leonard D. LaCruz is the listed owner, and Agostini Marino is the listed applicants.
This is a pro se. No exhibits. This is the first listing.
Mr. Daley Cruz.
Mr. Chair, we did receive a partial exhibit packet very, very late today.
So we, you know, we are not able to move ahead with this case, but I just wanted to note that for the record.
Is there anyone in the audience with their hand?
Yeah, I see, I see Augustina Moreno.
I don't know if the property owner is here,
but I believe the property owner will need to present the case when it's time.
But we can bring on the person who has raised their hand.
Augustina, could you please state your name and spell for the court synopsis?
Augustina Moreno.
A-G-U.
Go ahead.
A-G-U.
S-T-I-N-A, Moreno, M-O-R-E-N-O.
So we did not get the exhibits too late today.
When this case is going to be continued, when it goes forward, the listed owner will be the one who will testify, okay?
So, case number MI2024, 001-898-966 Wakeling Street.
The case is continued.
If you have any questions, please call the office and we'll help you with it, okay?
So, how do we know the next continuing state?
We will send you information about it.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you very much.
All right.
We're going to go to our first list, our first case here.
MI 2024-001-935-4472-Fleming Street.
Thomas Least is the listed owner.
It's a pro se.
There's a letter of support from the Central Roxburgh Civic Association.
They are coming back in now as a panelist.
Good afternoon, sir.
Good afternoon.
Hi, could you please state your name as spelled for the court stenographer?
My name is Thomas, T-H-O-M-A-S, Leist, L-E-I-S-T.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, sir. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case?
stop these in advance of this hearing i have and i have updated the tax form today thank you sir
please proceed you've already shared your screen um
and you see my screen we see the screen and we see your uh your notice of refusal okay you see
the notice of refusal just quickly okay so this is the notice of refusal this is uh an application
for an extension of an existing parking space at an rac uh semi-attached building on fleming street
this um i will show you pictures over here this is the existence in 2008 i hope the bill
I will show you pictures over here. This is the existence in 2008. I owned the building since
late in 2021, where the parking next to the house is present in 2016-2021.
At this point in time, we propose to extend the parking space along the house to pull it
backwards so that a modern car can actually be parked there off the street. As you see from the
picture view from Fleming Street. There is no parking on the left side, on the valley side of
the street, so there is no parking affected on the street in any shape or form. You see the curb cut
in place. I have submitted street departments approval of the curb cuts that has been in
existence. You see the disturbance which will be about 260 feet, the extension of the parking space
along the building. Here you see a distant picture with the grey wall, that's the property
in question. You see the new buildings next door that have reset parking garages across
Fleming Street. You also see on the other images the setback parking spaces that are in existence
in the other properties on this particular street. I'm showing you here the view, the concrete slab
that is present in a red circle with the extension that is suggested over here. In the process of
doing this, we will also clean up various remnants that are present from prior the subdivision
of the property.
The subdivision of the property occurred before I was the owner.
On the right hand side over here, you see in the circle the proposed area of the parking
space where the partial parking space is in existence.
The red arrows indicate off-street parking spaces that are currently in existence or are being built on Fleming Street in that particular area.
You also see on this the parking that is on the hillside of Fleming Street.
So no, there is not going to be any disturbance or reduction of parking spaces in the street.
This will also allow us to incorporate charging station for an electric car in this area so there
is no additional greenhouse or other issues that are emanating from this particular adjustment or
for the simple variance that I'm asking for. Also the building at this point in time has solar panels
on the roof. So part of the electricity proof will be from the solar panel. This is the project
information forms that has been submitted. This is the indenture showing that I'm the sole owner
of the building then here is the updated tax certificate with the original ones that expired
beforehand here is the approval of the local rcos that supports unanimously the application
for this simple variance
and then also the proof of the letters
that has been forwarded to the board
in this particular matter over here,
the summary form to the CBA
that indicates the support.
That was 18 to 0, that support?
Animus 18 people, did I say?
This was 35.
I'm not sure.
He mentioned it.
Yes, I mean, I will go back over here.
I apologize to scrolling too.
No, no, no, that's okay.
15 people were in attendance at this virtual meeting.
All right, thank you very much.
Here is the displays on the different dates,
the files that are in the originals.
The files indicate the dates that this was the picture was taken.
here are the certificate of mailing from the post office i apologize for the number of pages over
here but i didn't have the books that they looked for but they were all mailed
and so let me just get to the end of this so the applications that i have submitted and there is the
the additional form. Here is the original state as it is.
form here is the original state as it is at this point in time with the planning,
with the parking deck indicated next to the house. So the 4472 Fleming consists of an RSA5
property that is a house, that's the grey house that I showed you, plus an RSA3 strip of land
that was created when the two neighboring properties were divided off and the parking
space that is in existence and that we are proposed to extend is on the RSA 3 property.
This is the change that is proposed over here with the area of the extension of the deck so
that the cars can be set back with a set of stairs on the side over here.
And then finally over here is the street's approval of the curb cuts that has been existent.
I just don't know how long it has been existent because it predates the times that I owned the property.
This concludes my presentation.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any answer mr chair any commission
good afternoon chair bergman and members of the board michael gall with the staff of the
philadelphia city planning commission m-i-c-h-a-e-l-g-a-l-l do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i so affirm please proceed thank you
the comprehensive plan recommends a change to the residential single family zoning at this location
from rsa 3 to rsa 5 to be clear this property is split between the existing rsa 3 district which
requires shared driveways and the rsa 5 district which is not which does not there is an existing
curb cut at this location and street parking is not permitted on this side of fleming street the
The appellant has demonstrated that the unique physical conditions of this property make conformance with the zoning code difficult and that a variance would not detrimentally impact neighboring properties.
The City Planning Commission therefore recommends that the board grant the proposed variance for accessory parking.
Thank you, Michael.
M-I-2024, 001-935-4472, Fleming Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Sonetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Kaya Nguyen, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
You have your vote, sir.
Thank you.
Number eight, MI 2024-001-985-3327-35B Street.
Richard Pressman is the attorney.
Letter of unanimous support with proviso from Impact and Seventh Ward RCOs.
letter of non-opposition from
Council Member Lozada's office.
They're present now as a panelist.
Mr. Pressman?
Yeah, I'm here. Can you see me, sir?
I can. Mr. Pressman, could you please
state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Richard Pressman.
Richard, R-I-C-H-A-R-D.
E. Pressman, P as in Peter, R-E-S-S-M-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
Yes, the current holder, the owner is 3327 B Street Ray Holdings, LLC, and the principal
is Mahira Tak, and he is in the virtual audience and will be willing to be promoted to testify
at the end.
And our vice chair has just a few questions for you. Absolutely.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, sir.
Have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
We did submit them, and we supplemented with a recent tax clearance certificate within the five days.
Understood. Please proceed and share your screen.
how is the size of that? Is that good enough? We're fine. Okay, great. Good afternoon,
Mr. Chairman and members of the panel. As I said that I represent the current
holder of the real estate here and Mr. Ataka, the principal is here to testify as well.
Holder of the real estate here in Mr. Ataka, the principal is here to testify as well.
The current zoning on this parcel is RSA 5, which is residential single family attached.
This property was never residential, could never be residential, and will never be residential at this location.
We're requesting today a use variance for the property to be industrial use, which is consistent with its prior use.
If I may, Mr. Chairman, I'm going to show you a picture of the exterior of the building.
This is the building here, the red brick building.
And as you can see, it clearly was built back in 1930, excuse me, as a commercial property.
property. The building was purchased last year on July 24, 2023. We have attached as exhibit number
four the deed to this parcel. The application for zoning was made in January online by the architect
and it was denied because of the current zoning of RSA 5 and clearly industrial use is not permitted
in that zoning district. As a result, we did get our notice of refusal back by the L&I, and that was
dated January 30th, 2024. That's Exhibit 3. We timely filed an application for appeal back on
February 28th, and that's the number five in our package, and the project information form is
exhibit number six. The location of this property is in Kensington area on B Street,
mid-block between Cornwall and East Thayer Street, with the major cross streets of West
Moreland, and East Ontario. As you can see from this diagram here, the zoning, this is the subject
property. You can see RSA 5 all around it, and they're all single-family attached dwellings,
except for where this gray is, where it has been rezoned for commercial on the first floor. There's
a pizza shop there, and I'll get to that. You can also see on Rose Hill in the back is here. In here
is all I2, even around the corner, going on Westmoreland there is I2, and then down here on
the other side of Ontario, there's I2 as well, and across the street is RM1, which are all
single-family residences there that are attached. Looking at an Atlas photograph taken from 2023,
It shows you here, the industrial I-2 here, industrial I-2 here, and then here as well, and then surrounded by, in the other areas, the RSA-5.
The building description is a lot size of approximately 18,000 square feet, with 77 linear feet on B Street.
The building goes all the way through. Going back to here, as you can see, it goes all the way through to Rose Hill and to B Street, one continuous structure, two stories.
And as I said, it was built as a commercial structure in 1930 and has been that way ever since.
going to the actual photographs of the property this is the original one I showed you showing
the building on b street and this is the rear on rose hill and when the current owner bought the
property that existing detailing company was in the back and operating for many years and is still
a tenant there today the interior shots this is a shot looking from the front entrance way
of the existing structure out towards B Street, and this was used as a check cashing business
prior to the current owner's purchase of the property. This is adjacent to that space on B
Street is this semi-finished space commercial, which would be used for the proposed use of
sign making, which is what the current owner bought it for and would like to use it for.
Or this would be part of that industrial light industrial use.
Then here's the main area of the building behind that check caching window area.
And it goes all the way through.
And if I point out here in the back here is a ramp, which we'll get to.
That's Rose Hill Street.
And this is where the manufacturing of the signs is.
And when I say manufacturing, the use of the sign is really a printer.
printers. So it's all getting done by digital printing and then affixed to certain structures
So it's all getting done by digital printing and then.
and then delivered and installed on site at the location of the business. They don't do
any manufacturing. It's really assembling there. This is that ramp I was showing you that goes down
to Rose Hill, which is important because this is where all the deliveries of materials come in
and all the deliveries out of the finished product going out to the customer.
They get very few customers coming in on site because all the sales is done
and sizing on site at the customer locations.
And they go to places of convenience stores and others that have signage.
They also do not just signage, but they also print up leaflets
and other signs that go on the sides of buildings
that aren't just the big awnings that you see on the buildings outside.
Here is the second floor, which is going to be subject to a proviso.
It was built back many, a few decades ago, was used as a church.
That's what that elevated stage was originally used for.
More recently, unfortunately, it was used by a prior tenant as a lounge,
which created certain undesirable uses in the neighborhood, late nights and problems.
The current owner, when he came in and bought the property, asked that tenant to leave, even though they wanted to stay and continue to operate there.
It was not consistent with his values, so he asked him to leave, even though he was giving up the income.
So that's the inside.
The other important aspect of this property is side parking.
On the B Street side, going all the way through to Rose Hill in the back, is, I apologize, is parking.
So this is looking from B Street going to Rose Hill. And I think we can get up to eight to 10 cars there and would more than enough to accommodate the workers that would drive. Most of the workers use public transportation. They don't drive.
This is the sign where we took the picture going back to B Street and it's secured with a roll gate. So at night it's not left open and it's secure and all the parking for the uses and anyone that would come to visit would be able to pull in there.
and this was the last shot going all the way down to Rose Hill. Prior uses. This building,
this is what I was able to find on L&I's website. The earliest record I found was 1941,
which was a garage, and then there became sheet metal parts. If you see here,
back in the 50s, 46, I'm sorry, it was sheet metal, and it continued until at least 1956
as a sheet metal manufacturer. More recently, I apologize here, hold on.
in in 2016 the prior owner went and got a use permit and he was got it for both the restaurant
home appliance repair also an auto mechanic repair and then on the second floor they got
a permitted use of a banquet hall and food prep that has been abandoned my client is not looking
for all those uses. He wants to have limited industrial there, but there was prior commercial
use. So, Mr. Pressman, I noticed that the RCO is in favor of it, but they have a proviso.
What's the proviso? So, the proviso is two for Mr. Chairman. One is that before they go up to
the second floor, they have no use for it right now, no proposed use or potential tenant, that
we would come back to L9. We would get a refusal because it was, you know, or a referral of what
that proposed use is. We would go to the RCO and then we would come. Hillary, they'd have to do
that anyway. Am I correct? Yes. Yes. No, that is correct, Mr. Chair. Since the property is
owned RSA 5, unless they're asking for a use that already has a permit, although it looks like all
of those other uses have basically been abandoned at this point right right so that they you'd have
to do that anyway so and the other was to use the uh the safe cameras um as part of the police you
know uh presence in the neighborhood we can we uh do the cameras yeah no i'm talking to hillary
no no unfortunately we can't include that you know as as a proviso but that's something you'll
just have to work out with the neighbors yes my client intends to do it either way so why don't
you bring in your client to adopt your test. That'd be great. Can you, Mr. Ta, can you
mr attack can you uh elevate yourself by raising your hand
elevate yourself by raising your hand?
yes sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer yes sir my name is mahir attack
and spell your name m-a-h-i-r-a-t-a-k is the last name you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth. Yes, I do. Please proceed, Mr. Pressman. Thank you,
Mr. Chairman. Mr. Tak, you were here when I presented the case on behalf of your company.
Yes. And was I said truthful to the best of your knowledge and information and belief?
Yes. And do you adopt that testimony as your own? Yes. Okay. And you agree that you understand that
before you lease to the second floor space to anyone that we would have to go back. Let me
finish the question, sir, we have to go back to licenses and inspection and get approval.
Yes. Okay. I have nothing further. Questions from the board.
Questions or comments from Hillary Emerson, our attorney.
Just briefly, Mr. Pressman, you mentioned, I think there's already another tenant in there
and that the second floor was going to have another use in the future. Would it make sense
if the board approves to have a proviso limiting this use to a certain suite or unit or the first
floor of the building? Well, the light industrial would be most of the building. There is the rear
on Rose Hill where there is an existing auto detailing client tenant that was there and it
It was prior approved, but then it was abandoned, it looks like, after 2016.
So we would want that used to stay legal or made legal with the light industrial.
We felt it would fall under that.
I would have to, I don't know if that would.
I would have to check with L&I.
the auto auto detailing there's there's like a vehicle um there's a whole vehicle use category
in the zoning code um that that would be more likely to fall under um but i can if you want
the board can hold the vote i can check into that now with l and i and um see if that can
be added to the application since this is a change of use application right under um hillary under
14602 the table for i1 it says commercial vehicle repair and maintenance or commercial vehicle sales
and rental right good no as i say but the property zoned rsa 5 like the light industrial is a it's
not light industrial is a category in and of itself that has a specific definition it's it's
not the zoning district like i i1 is different than light industrial of the category versus the
zoning district. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So I can, I can check on that for you and
see if that, if that's something, especially since it was previously approved, if that's
something that can just be added back in. That would be helpful. Thank you. Okay.
Yeah. As I say, Mr. Preston, if you could just send me an email describing the use of the
existing tenant that um your client wishes to retain in the space that would be very helpful
thank you hillary could we vote on this next wednesday um yeah we probably would be able to
yeah why don't we look to vote on this next wednesday at 2 p.m um let me just double check
comments from the virtual audience
i didn't have any further hands mr chair we want to wait until uh planning sees what we're voting
on uh yeah i think so i think i think we ought to hold planning until we see whether it's actually
we're voting on okay okay well then so everything else is closed would you like to do a resumption
hearing next week mr chair very briefly yeah we'll do a brief clarify what the uses are
yep okay that's it okay all right okay thank you mr pressman so uh just to be clear next tuesday
at 2 p.m yes okay we'll have a brief resumption hearing okay and i will send you over that
information by email to you uh with that mr mr chairman can i move in the exhibits that as i
you can sir and uh not tuesday right you said next we said when i said wednesday oh okay
wednesday at 2 p.m he said yeah yeah okay thank you mr pressman thank you so much may i be excused
you can sure have a good evening everybody thank you so number four mi 2024 001 899
So, number four, MI 2024-001-899, 1410 North 31st Street, Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
A letter of support from Brewery Town, charge of a community civic association.
Mr. Anastasio.
They'll be rejoining shortly as a panelist.
Good evening, Mr. Chair.
Good evening, Mr. Anastasio. Just for the record, state your name.
Byrne Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
Right. Could you identify your client and relationship to this property?
Yes, it's Kalia Moody, who's the owner-occupant of the property.
Okay, and our vice chair has just a few questions.
Thank you.
Yes, Councilor, do you agree to read the reading on the refusal or stipulate towards accuracy?
Yes, sir.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
Thank you, Councilor. Please proceed and choose from.
Thank you.
uh mr chair members of the board i just want to let you know that we had unanimous support
uh from no opposition uh from the community uh on this particular application 94 page exhibit
packet that's going into uh evidence today
We have a zoning refusal, floor plan, photos of the property and the block in question.
We also have a RCO notification letter and proof of mailing, the poster and proof of posting.
We have a zoning archive showing a very long history of commercial use, commercial lease, the tax clearance, some overhead views and support letters all being entered into evidence today.
it's a zone for rmx2 the application is for a group practitioner and my client is a psychological
practice and the proposed use is requires a special exception
so this is not in fact a variance but just seeking a special exception use
So here's the larger space, and we're going to be occupying one spot of that larger space.
Here's the building in question here.
it's a behavioral health uh not um group practice
and as you can see here it's laid out specifically for that kind of use
with offices this is for young people
we have
notification that was mailed inviting everyone to the community meeting back in June
and of course today's zoning hearing on august 21st
all the addresses that were mailed
proof of mailing to 148 individual households
the poster that was posted at the property here's proof of posting
and here's the uh moving this into evidence which is just a very long history of the property
being such that is consistent with the proposed use.
We even have a zoning permit that was approved for a child care center.
I also included my client's lease, proof of taxes being paid, and the zoning map and overall overhead shot of the property itself.
I also included my client's lease.
And with that, if Ms. Moody is in attendance, I'd ask that she raise her virtual hand.
Fair enough to speak.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Kalia Moody, first name K-H-A-L-I-A-H, last name M-O-O-D-Y.
Do you swear or affirm that tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Moody, did you hear my presentation to the board this evening?
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, because this use is consistent with previous uses, because it has ample off-street
parking and it uh enjoys the support unanimous support of all the immediate neighbors and the
rco we respectfully request the granting of the variance thank you thank you questions from the
board yes um did you say uh what the hours would be for this practice we did not miss gaston uh
Ms. Moody, would you like to tell Ms. Gaston what the hours would be for the practice?
Yes, the hours of operation would be Monday through Friday, 9 to 6 o'clock.
Every other Saturday, we will provide services from 9 to 1.
And this is for young people, you said?
Yes, it's a behavioral health agency.
We provide applied behavior analysis therapy to children and adolescents who have developmental disabilities.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Any other questions from the board?
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
just briefly mr chair um mr anastasio is there a particular suite or unit um in in this building
that this use is for i i didn't see anything definitive on the lease but perhaps i missed it
um because it seemed like it was one suite in a larger building
miss moody what unit are you going to be occupying
i'm going to be occupying unit a2 thank you thank you
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any further hands mr chair planning commission
thank you chair bergman members of the board michael gall with the staff of the philadelphia
City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential mixed
zone, mixed use zoning at this location. The appellant has demonstrated that this action
would not detrimentally impact the surrounding area. The City Planning Commission recommends
the board grant the special exception for group medical practitioner use.
MI 2024-001-899-1410 North 31st Street. I vote yes proviso. Use limited to
section A2.
Michael Johnson.
I believe I have a unit A2, Mr. Chair,
just to clarify.
Unit A2.
Yep. Okay.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
Cheryl Gaston.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
Tanetta Graham.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
Iowyn. My vote is yes with Proviso.
Nishinau Shaheen.
My vote is yes with Proviso.
thank you council thank you have a good evening is there anyone in the virtual audience whose
330 case has not been called
i do not see any hands mr chair thanks everyone uh i think we got a lot of work done today
and thank you not only toward the board members but thank you to the staff too i mean we
we tend to keep you guys around and we just want you to know we do appreciate everything you do
So, Jason, be nice to see your name.
I'm going to give you all the credit right now.
How's that?
Thanks, everyone.
See you all next week.
All right.
Have a good night.
Have a good night.