Correct the spelling of Mr. Shahid's name.
can you hear me now we can john very good okay very good okay i'm using my i'm using my phone
thank you okay okay chair we have 26 attendees we can start the recording thank you
good morning my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing the zba hearings this morning
With me is our vice chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Thomas Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And today we also have LeBaron Leonard Palmer from Development Services will be serving as our alternate board member.
Oops, apologies. Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised the proceedings are being recorded.
Video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographers, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at our schedule today.
Number two, MI 2022-006-009-2055 Cemetery Avenue, Cases Continued, Attorney Moving Party.
Number six, MI 2023-001-534-4827 North A Street, This Case is Continued.
Number seven, MI 2023-001-445-611 Distance Street. This case is continued. And number 13, MI 2023-001-512-1307 East Moimensing Avenue. This case is continued.
does anyone have any comments hold hold one minute here let's see here I think I have one
or does anyone have any comments relative to the cases I just called for denuances
good morning chair this is Fatina I'll be your co-host for this morning
thank you you're welcome I see no I see no handshare sorry apologies
And number 11, MI 2022-007-612-5204-206 North Lawrence Street, is Kevin Kim in the audience?
Kevin Kim, you've been allowed to speak. Please unmute yourself.
Good morning, Mr. Chair. Kevin Kim here.
Mr. Kim, just for the record, state your name and spell for the court stenographer.
Kevin Kim, K-E-V-I-N, K-I-M, attorney for the applicant.
Right.
Or do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Mr. Kim, are you going to be ready to go on today?
I am okay.
I am 90% back to normal.
Okay, so what I'm going to do is I'm not ready to call your case now, but I'll be calling
it shortly, okay?
Great.
Thank you very much.
I just wanted to make sure you were in the audience.
Okay, thank you.
all right thank you are there any other requests for continuances
i see no hands chair okay so number three mi 2022-006
Okay, so number three, MI 2022-006-085, 5519 North 4th Street.
We have no exhibits.
This is the second listing.
The applicant is Jean Simmons, Janelle Simmons.
Simmons.
We have no exhibits.
First listing, no one appeared.
I see no handshake.
Okay, so MI 2022-006-085-5519 North 4th Street, this is the second listing, we have no exhibits, no one appeared the first time, I vote to dismiss.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is to dismiss.
Ishmael Shaheen, my vote is to dismiss.
That's good, thank you.
Number five, MI-2022-002-851-2328, North Natrona Street.
This is the third listing.
We have information this case will be withdrawn, but we do not have a signed letter yet.
Thomas Bronson is the listed owner, and Elijah Cupid is the applicant.
Is anyone in the audience?
i see no handshare thank you mi2022-002-851-2328 north netrona street this is the third listing
uh i vote to dismiss thomas holloman my vote is to dismiss
ishmael shaheed my vote is to dismiss thank you um
Is that it? Okay. Okay. We're going to go to our add-on. MI 2022-001-058-332 Delancey Street. The vote on this will be continued to Wednesday, 10-11, October 11th at 9.30 a.m.
we're going to go to our regular list i'm going to start with number four
mi 2022 0028 actually mr mr share can we um can we just we'll save number four till later we can
actually just go ahead and start with number one okay thank you thank you we'll start with number
1. MI 2023-001-514, 5517 Chew Avenue. James Gleaton is the owner. Applicant.
There's a letter of support from the 12th Ward Democratic RCO.
good morning chairman i was right the button i kind of lost could you could you state your
name please and spell for the court scenario yes uh james gleaton jr j-a-m-e-s g-l-e-a-t-o-n
right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes, I do.
This application is for two-family household living in an existing structure.
The proposed use, two-family household living, is prohibited in the RSA 3 zoning district.
Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning, sir.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this area?
I'll be honest, no, it was not five days in advance.
I was actually out of town and didn't get them in five days.
But all documents have been received and sent in now.
Hillary, have we received everything?
I don't see anything outstanding.
Mr. Gleetton is good to go.
All right.
Please proceed and share your screen, sir.
Thank you.
I'll share my screen here.
Okay, so first up, we will go with, let me know.
It's coming up.
Okay, can you see my screen?
It should be coming up any minute.
You're good.
All right, so what I'm showing right now, this is what the current zoning is.
As you can see, I'm in this highlighted in the house in the gray.
all of these homes here are RSA3
all of the
most of the block is already RM1
along with around the corner
so that's my first item to show
So that's my first item to show.
I will show
I will show, do you need to see my application for the refusal?
You can go buy it real quickly.
We've already seen it.
We'll go buy it real quickly.
Okay, we'll go buy it real quickly.
And why don't you start out by saying what you're trying to do?
Why don't you tell us what you want to do?
Yes, what I'm trying to do, currently, this is a single family home.
It was already kind of split up to be a duplex.
So, on the first floor, there is, as a matter of fact, let me share my other screen here.
Why don't you do that? Why don't you show us some photos of the property?
Okay. All right. We'll do that here.
Share screen.
That's my word document.
We'll start off here.
Okay. It should be here.
Okay. So, I see the screen there.
And so the lot size is 2930 square feet.
On the first floor, there's 500 square feet of living space.
There's one bedroom, one bath, a living room.
I added a kitchen.
There was no kitchen there, but anything else was already there.
We'll see pictures in a second.
There's a front door with the rear door exit to a deck.
The deck is 144 square feet in the rear.
I'm looking to make the second and third floor one unit, which would be 1,200 square feet, three bedrooms, one and a half bath, living room and a kitchen with an exit on the first floor.
And I'm proposing the emergency egresses for a window ladder from the second and third floor.
There is an exterior deck facing Chew Avenue, which is 84 square feet.
I'll show you pictures here, but you know what, hold on, I was on the wrong page there,
let me go back to that one, sorry, I clicked on the wrong word document, okay, click on
that one, and now I'll share, hold on here again, yeah, sorry about that.
that's the same document okay one second you should see uh
same one
i have that the wording at the beginning of the document let me go back here one more time here
sorry about sorry about this uh share
okay here we go okay it's the right document here
okay okay all right so this is the uh the front entrance here i'll slow slow down here put on a
word document to make this a little faster for everyone um pretty rco when we were talking about
meetings they were talking about having security lighting i already have a light here i was showing
here this is a motion detector light we come to the front door this house sits back a little bit
okay um showing on the side of the house in this picture here and i have another one zoom up there
is another motion detector light on the side of the house good um this picture here actually
shows you the zoomed in picture of the motion detector light okay good
this shows the the backyard and the side view of the deck i'll show in a second
So you're right back here for the first floor unit.
Was the first floor unit over there in place?
It was in place, but it did not have, like I said, the back room was just a kind of a storage room.
It didn't have a kitchen.
And when I was investigating having this possibly as a dual property, of course, they need to have a kitchen.
So that has been integrated.
And I'll show you those pictures there.
this is the rear deck again and this would be the second floor we'll be having the emergency
egress from it's not done here
i'm coming into the unit which i have recently renovated this is the front door
the bathroom had to be added on because there was only a half bath there now and i'll show you how
there's a stand-up shower this is the living room again the TV on the wall
here's the stand-up shower sliding into the bathroom here there's also a vanity
with a tall sink there so it's a it's a slender bathroom but it has all the
I think opponents need it.
This is going down the hallway there, not a whole lot to see there.
There's a small closet, it used to be just a half bath, but it's a closet now, going
down the hall.
One bedroom, and currently while you see things in there, while I'm renovating my
my oldest son asked me to live there. So he's, he's living there right now.
Just got, it's got a kitchen here, which used to be just a storage area.
It was actually like a doctor's office years ago. There was a tub here,
just a tub and a whole lot of mess kitchen, electric stove, microwave,
which has been installed kitchen sink, looking back down the hallway there.
Just refrigerator again.
The back door, which is the other side of the door is the deck.
I know these pictures are kind of redundant here, but we were talking to the RCUs.
They want to see many pictures.
Mr. Glenn, here's a couple of questions.
One is half your block is already RM1.
Am I right?
The other half, are there apart multiple family dwellings in those properties too?
No, they are single family.
To the right of me, they are – well, actually, this is the only single family house on the block.
The other houses are twins.
Yeah, but what I'm saying, are they already converted to multiple family, too?
No, to the right of me or to the left?
Which side?
Either side.
Yes, there are some.
There's a combination in that zone where it's RM1.
There are a combination of homes, residences that are just single family, but some have been converted to multiple.
Okay. And when you went to the 12th Ward Democratic Committee, how'd they vote?
They support it. I can show you that letter.
And let me show you my last picture before I go there.
Because they had mentioned the picture.
There's supposed to be a picture of me with some of my phone.
I don't have it here. I'll bring that up now.
but their comment was support and they were adamant about uh having dirty lights no no
that's curry lights the um something here it is right here okay
and then you can see the screen i go down a little bit okay i have multiple screens
support yep and then their comment was about i'm sorry i thought i had the picture there
but it was showing
let's see the comment here
six near neighbors right
yes okay
they had
the comment was about having the roof ladders
right okay
yeah all right
questions from the board
no Mr. Chairman
no Chair
questions or comments
from the virtual audience
chair we have charles richardson
good morning mr richardson good morning mr chair charles richardson from the office of
councilwoman cindy bass room 508 city hall richardson is spelled r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n
you swear our firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes sir please
proceed. Councilwoman has no opposition to granting the variance for this property.
Thank you for taking the time to call us. We appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the
virtual audience? I see no hands, Chair. Planning Commission. Thank you, Chairman,
and good morning. David Vecto, F-E-C-T-E-A-U, with the City Planning Commission. Do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, sir, I do. Please
proceed sir thank you sir uh mr chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the residential single-family zoning at this location this property has a documented
history as a two-family dwelling and so the city planning commission recommends the board grant
the proposed use variance for two dwelling units thank you um hillary this is the one we want to add
uh variance for parking for parking we need to yes mr fleeton is there any off-street parking
at this property um there's all street parking yes right directly in front of the property
There's off-street parking, yes, directly in front of the property.
No, but off-street, like on the property itself?
Oh, no, no, there is not.
Okay, because the property currently is owned RSA 3, which would require one parking spot on the property per unit.
Since you don't have that, that's another variant that should have been listed on the refusal.
The board will just need to address that in their vote.
Thank you.
So MI-2023-001-514-5517 Shoe Avenue, I vote yes.
Thomas.
Proviso.
Vote also includes the variance data for parking.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
You have your votes.
We're going to go to number nine, MI 2023-001-453-5446 King Sesson Avenue.
David Spridell is the owner applicant.
This is a pro se.
david sprittle has been promoted to panelists good morning sir could you state your name
please and spell for the court stenographer you hear me we can uh david's david b sprittle
could you spell it please for the court sonographer d-a-v-i-d
s-p-r-i-d-d-l-e right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth yes okay so this application is for use as a takeout restaurant in an existing structure
yes the proposed use takeout restaurant is expressly prohibited in the rsa5 zoning district
but there is a letter of support from the southwest philadelphia district services
our vice chair has a few questions for you sir okay good morning sir have you emailed in all
the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing yes thank you please yes okay thank you you can share your
screen use that clear it share it okay what i said
is that right well you got you got to bring up whatever you want to present now you got to go
into your file okay do I have to bring this the stuff up that I sent in yes okay
i think it's you uh you you who not uh okay that was a news service anyway
i'm trying to go in my um here we go to what i um what i sent in
Thank you.
Thank you.
There they go.
In order to share your files, you will have to unshare your screen, open the file that you plan on sharing, and then start sharing again.
to unshare my screen yes where'd i say it should be at the bottom okay
open the file
let me download it
Chair, if you would like to give him time to work on his technical issue.
What we're going to do is we're going to move on.
We're going to call you back later.
And then by then, see if you can have your file straight.
So how do I do it so I have it up?
So you said go to my downloads and have it up?
No, that's not what I said.
Wherever you say it today.
And then you start sharing.
We're going to get back to you, okay?
All right.
All right.
Thank you.
You have to go out now.
All right.
We're going to move to number six.
We're going to move to number eight.
MI-2023-001-515-2221 South Gouvere Street. Mary Rose Roach is the attorney for the owner.
Letter of support from Broad Street West RCO.
Ms. Roach is coming back in as a panelist thank you
Good morning, counsel.
She's not in all the way yet, Chair.
She's coming back in, though.
I'm fine.
Ms. Roach?
It seems like we're having a problem promoting her.
Nikki IT, would you be able to help promote her?
Because it's not letting us, please.
I'm not getting in there.
No chair.
Nikki, are you there?
why don't we why don't we just move on and come back to this one okay we'll call this again
thank you chair now work in the backgrounds to reach her
number 10 mi2023 001 517 2532 north 22nd street joseph consul is the attorney
we're waiting for an rco letter meeting was held 713 and 817 by all in the family
Joseph Consul is coming back in as a panelist. Thank you.
Can you guys hear me?
Good morning, Mr. Consul.
Could you please state your name as spelled for the court stenographer?
Yes, it's Joseph, J-O-S-E-P-H.
Last name is Consul, C-O-N-S-O-L-E.
Great.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Do you identify your client in a relationship to this property?
The client is Ms. Tamar Smith, the owner of Layla's Way Incorporated, which owns the property.
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his equity?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, and the RCO just sent an email about 30 seconds ago to everyone.
Okay. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Is that sharing my packet?
Okay. So the property is 2532 North 22nd Street. Here is a view of the front of the property. Here's a view of the side of the property. Back to the front, that entrance on the corner there leads upstairs to an apartment.
And this entrance here is the commercial space. And so you've got two separate entrances. According to the zoning archives, the property has been a takeout restaurant with one family on top, a store with one family on top.
It doesn't say what it just says store and a daycare with one family on top that the most recent approved use was a daycare with a single family home on top of that.
What we're seeking to do, Layla's Way, is an organization that does behavioral therapy for children, and that use group practitioner, because as I'll show you in a second, she has several highly licensed folks that work for her organization.
Group practitioner is a special exemption here in CMX1.
so um you know generally we believe because there'll be less children than was permitted
in the daycare the hours are um similar that we don't believe that this use will have detrimental
effects on the neighborhood uh although the rco just sent a letter saying they disagree
um which i don't have in my packet yet but i'll uh try to bring it up so we met with them twice
we met with them in august and we met with them in july they made claim in their letter
that we hadn't posted any notices but we have photos showing that this was posted
on the property when the corn rent was required like we do for all of our projects we submitted
plans showing the breakdown of the commercial space and the residential space on top
and we submitted our other documents as well that are required
and we only got the we had sent a proof of no tax no taxes owed prior but
we sent the tax clearance certificate in this morning and there's a copy of it
there. As I mentioned, all of the folks that work for Layla's Way
As I mentioned, all of the folks that work for Layla's Way are highly credentialed, board-certified behavior analysts and psychologists.
We have those licenses here.
And then the zoning archive just showing all the old uses.
We believe that this is an ideal spot.
I'll call my client in a second to describe what her organization does.
We couldn't really make any headway with the RCO.
I'm sure that they're on the call to discuss their position.
There was really no use that they would agree would be acceptable here, especially not what we're proposing.
um so we just feel like they were not interested in having this property um occupied despite the
fact that it has a long history of being a commercial space and a residential space on top
and has been derelict for a long time so um we're coming in she's gonna fix it up and it'll it should
be an asset um to the community that's that's our opinion um so i'd like to call miss tamar smith
Well, finally, I'd like to add that it is a special exception, and so we believe that the standard is certainly met here in that having a small therapy center for children with highly qualified staff is beneficial and not a use that would go against the group practitioner use, which is a special exception, therefore, we believe this should be allowed.
So I'm going to call Ms. Tamar Smith to raise her hand.
Tamar Smith, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Good morning. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
Tamar Smith, T-A-M-A-R-S-M-I-T-H.
Do you swear or firm, tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Good morning, Ms. Smith.
Yes. Did you hear my testimony just now about your problem?
Do you agree with what I said and do you adopt it as your own?
Would you very briefly just describe to the board the services that your organization provides?
Sure. So we have been providing applied behavior analysis services to the city of Philadelphia.
Majority of our clients are Medicaid clients.
We've been providing a service for the last five years.
We currently have a location that's located at 138 West Shelton Avenue, where we provide services from 9 to 2 p.m. for children between the ages of 2.7 years old and five years old, but you can't be in kindergarten.
through our five years of being there we have never had any safety issues or concerns with
any of the neighbors in that neighborhood our clients has always been able to be maintained
and cared for our ratio is three staff to four clients at the most it may be five but specifically
for this space we will only have a limit of about eight kids in that space per day
um and our goal is to service children between the ages of 2.5 and 5 like we do at our current
center and we're breaking the services down for that um location to be from 9 to 12 so we'll have
two sessions 9 to 12 in the morning and then another session that is from 12 30 to 3 15 i
believe. And basically, the ratios would be the same where it will be five adults to about three
children. And we'll provide the ADA services. All of our clinicians are licensed, have a long
experience of dealing with children with autism. And basically, the goal of our service is really
to focus on language development, reducing challenging behaviors and increasing skills.
Thank you.
I have nothing further.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have a calling user with
the phone number ending in 3552.
Calling user, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Good morning. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Adrienne Fernandez. My last name is spelled F-E-R-N-A-N-D-E-Z, Swampoodle Neighborhood Process Association, RCO.
Yes, Adrienne Fernandez. My last name is spelled F-E-R-N-A.
You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Okay. I sent a picture showing that this property was not posted at any time before the hearing.
This address is in my neighborhood.
It's in Swampville neighborhood.
I pass by this property every day.
It's on a major transportation route, and it was never posted for the hearing as required.
There were two meetings.
I sent the meeting summary form because there's five effective RCOs listed on the RCO application website.
However, the Planning Commission listed seven.
In any case, three of the RCOs attended the two public meetings on 8-17 and 7-13-23, and the affected RCOs serving as coordinator was All-in-the-Family RCO.
All in the Family RCO sent one or more emails requesting additional information about the
autism therapy program based on we didn't get enough information about the program from
our questions at both public meetings.
All in the Family did not receive a response that they could forward to all of us to the
other RCOs to see if they had any other questions.
One of the major concerns, because all three RCOs attending the second public meeting and
two RCOs attending the first public meeting were opposed to this variance for this type
of use, one of the questions in the email was, and at the meeting, was asking the owner
to propose other uses that we could look at, and we never received that information from
the owner through their attorney.
So the youth proposed one of the major problems is that the owner explained how if clients are artistic, and this would be an autism medical facility, that medically persons between the age, I guess, of birth and whenever they're declared autistic and 21 are considered medically to be not adults or children.
So we had a conflict because persons between the ages of 18 and 21 who are clients and medically considered to be children, we're not adults, they are legally adults.
And they could, when we asked for within the small area of the facility because they want the top to be an apartment, so they're just using the first floor in the basement.
And when we asked for where are alternative areas in the medical location of the building for persons to be, say, isolated if they were having problems, we're not sure what's going on with medication, if that's given there or not, we could not get an answer about where the available space was for persons who were having problems participating with their therapy.
Therefore, if they're between 18 and 21, they'd be free to go outside the neighborhood and potentially cause problems that we don't want to add to.
So that was a major problem.
There were other problems about the amount of space inside the proposed medical area, and we didn't get any answers about that, nor about alternative uses.
Also, we didn't get any information about exactly how the medical facility would be laid out in terms of where the younger children would be, where the older children would be, where the offices would be.
We just couldn't seem to get that kind of information from the owner or from the owner's attorney.
As I said, we're opposed to this use next to residential homes.
At the first public meeting, the next-door neighbor came, and she was also trying to get information.
She didn't seem to understand it enough to vote.
We did not vote at that meeting.
At the second meeting, there were no affected addresses.
For this address, there's 125 affected addresses, and nobody attended.
And we definitely need to feel comfortable supporting this where no neighbors have input.
Those neighbors around there are very familiar with the prior businesses on all of their corner properties.
We are asking the ZBA to vote against this variance, to deny this variance.
However, if the ZBA does not, we're asking that the hours be limited Monday to Friday.
If the ZBA does not, we're asking that the hours be limited Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., no weekends, and also all trash kept indoors.
And because we have limited information, we don't really have what was also going to say a limit of one apartment.
I believe they were asking for one apartment upstairs.
And that's pretty much all we can say based on the information that we had at the meeting.
all right thank you for uh your information who else in the virtual audience has a comment
i see no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good morning david effecto
with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the commercial mixed use of zoning at this location this property has a documented
history of use as a business on the ground floor dating to at least the 1950s. The appellant has
shown that the proposed group practitioner will have no detrimental impacts beyond what might be
expected, and so the City Planning Commission recommends the board grant a proposed special
exception for a group practitioner. Thank you. Mr. Consul, do you agree with the provisos that were
mentioned yes sir okay so am i mr chair can i just ask a quick question mr consul you mentioned
you received a letter did you receive a letter from all in the family are you referring to what
was submitted by swamp poodle i apologize attorney emerson uh it was swamp poodle that i i got kind
of confused because you know they were all at the meeting at both meetings and that's what we got
was received from Swamp Poodle.
That's fine. I just wanted to make sure
we had received everything that you had
received. Yeah, as Swamp Poodle
mentioned, yeah, okay. Yeah, you're good. Thanks.
All right. Thank you.
So MI 2023
001-517
2532 North
22nd Street. I vote
yes with proviso.
8A to 6P
Monday to Friday hours.
No weekend. Trash stored
inside.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with provisos.
Thank you, board.
Number 11, MI 2022-007-612-5204-206, North Lawrence Street.
Kevin Kim is the attorney.
Letter of support from new 42nd Ward with proviso.
Okay. Mr. Kim.
I'll promote him to a panelist now, Chair.
Thank you.
Mr. Kim, you can unmute yourself.
Hello.
Good morning, Mr. Kim.
you've already been sworn just state your name for the record kevin kim k-b-i-n-k-i-m all right
could you identify your client the relationship to this property my client is old brothers
photo inc and we have max o of that company okay our our vice chair has just a few questions for
you sir good morning counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? Yes, I do. Have you emailed in all the required
documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing? Three days late,
Mr. Chair. All right. Please proceed
and share your screen.
And we do show that we have a non-opposition
letter from Councilor New Swell. Oh, no, no, no, no.
excuse me that's the wrong one i read okay you know you're good can you see my screen
yes okay um this this is the aerial view of the subject property i've i've colored it green right
there where the cursor is this is a subject building it's a large building approximately
27,000 square feet. Now, Max O of Old Brothers Order Inn currently has this pink colored building
where his mechanic shop is, four bays. And this is where his parking lot is.
So it is right adjacent to this. There's a common doorway right here leading from this building
where the bays are to this building. Now, I'm going to show you another picture of this area
right here there's a driveway right here servicing for part of this property and this prop
right here servicing for part of this property and this property
and this is the view from the north fifth street corridor this is the driveway
and it's part of this property and this subject building there's a a roll-up gate door here
where the cars can go in and out now this is the zoning folder this whole area is
commercial mixed use including our subject property
this is the lawrence street view single roll-up gate here it appears to be the front but this is
i guess it's the front compared to this lawrence street but this is actually the back area no cars
are going in and out of this this particular door this is running closer this is inside
it's a quite large building right now it's just storage and that's about it
now this is that area i told you leading to that driveway to north fifth street this is the roll-up
gate on the other side not the uh facing lawrence but uh facing the part of that property of mr
old is a current mechanic shop. This is just 117 letters that went out to all the neighborhood,
nearby neighbors. Okay, this is the subject of what we're talking about. It is a paint booth,
completely self-contained with air filtration system on top. It is approximately 14 by
14 feet wide 26 feet long and nine feet high so i guess it's about the size of two vehicles
you need some room to move around inside and paint the vehicle it's got complete exhaust
system on top so whatever air is used in there it's exhausted out uh filtered now the in addition
to that safety feature of this paint booth the paint that mr o is proposing proposing to use
is water-based solvent paint not oil-based so the toxicity level is quite low compared to oil-based
paint and that is a trend in the industry Mr. O says that all the paint shops are converting to
oil-based painting to help with environmental issues Mr. O just by way of background he's been
fixing cars for about 30 years or so and he bought that property about I guess 15-20 years ago
the current shop the mechanic shop and I helped him with the zoning at that time
I consolidated lots and was approved and all of that now he wants to expand into body work and
painting work because his business has grown notwithstanding the COVID problem that he had
the last three, two and a half years. So he is seeking that zoning variance to allow him to fix
the bodies and paint the autos which is right next to his current mechanic shop. Any questions?
We're fine. Why don't you bring your client on to adopt your testimony?
OK. My client is in my office right now with my laptop.
How does he get on? It's he's looking at all of us right now.
Well, can we can we promote him?
Could you please have him raise his virtual hand?
Yes, he's been allowed to speak, he just has to unmute himself.
sir could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer
yeah hi uh this is a max o m-a-x-o-h do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel mr oh you were in my room all this time you were
listening to everything i said do you agree with everything i said as presented and you
adopted as your own testimony if you were speaking for yourself? Yes.
All right. Questions from the board. No, man.
all right questions from the board no mr chairman yes chair um i have a question um council so
when you are installed the uh new paint booth what will be the um entrances and the exits
um for the vehicles is it going to be along the side street in an alleyway or will that be coming
through one of the four bays. No, the exit entrance will primarily be through that common
driveway leading to Fifth Street. And I didn't see it, but is the actual driveway owned by the
actual applicant? Yes. Okay. All right. No further questions. These are comments from the virtual
audience i see no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good morning david
fecto with the city planning commission chair and board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the commercial mixed-use zoning at this location the 1962 works progress administration
land use map shows that this property has a history as a gasoline service station
so auto repair would not be an unusual reuse the proposal will not injure the use of adjacent
properties and so the city planning commission recommends the board grant the use variants for
auto repair and vehicle painting thank you um council does your client agree with the proviso
interior storage of all vehicles yes he does okay so mi 2022 007 612 5204 to 06 north
lawrence street i vote yes quick proviso interior storage of all vehicles
thomas holloman my vote is yes with proviso ishmael shaheed my vote is yes with proviso
thank you counsel thank you members of the board
thank you all right
so number four mi 2022 002 815 38 52 germantown avenue ryan mcsherry will be our attorney for
this hillary emerson has recused herself um there is a letter of opposition from the 13th board
RCO. Also, the applicant has provided 26 form
letters of support. Mr. Weitzman is the attorney.
Mr. Weitzman is coming back in as a panelist.
Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Mr. Weitzman, how are you? Could you please state your name and spell for the
court? Richard Weitzman, W-E-I-T-Z-M-A-N.
I represent the applicant, Shiree Wilborn.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to weigh in the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case?
Follow these in advance of this hearing.
Documents were emailed in, but it was admittedly less than five days.
Yes, and we received everything along with your tax clearance.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
So, property at 3852 Germantown Avenue,
You know, zone CMX 2.5, the proposed use requires a special exception for assembly and entertainment.
My client, Ms. Wolburn, understands that the proposed use is a highly regulated use.
She is prepared to meet that challenge.
um i made it when we met with the rco there was uh quite a bit of concern about safety issues and
and uh i will address that to the board as well and what we are proposing what my client is
proposing on how to handle the perceived safety risks of of the use uh by way of background miss
wilborn has more than 10 years as an event planner she's looking to provide a safe fun space
which has minimal impact on the neighborhood.
She's prepared to implement security protocols and other safeguards to keep her employees, members, and neighbors safe.
Section 14-303E7 outlines the standards she must meet.
All dimensional standards are satisfied and meet the criteria for the proposed use, including those required in 14-603.
All dimensional standards are satisfied and meet the criteria for the...
The grant of a special exception, we believe, will not detrimentally impact the neighborhood beyond that which would normally be expected for the use, including and most importantly, no endangering the public health or safety by fire or other means.
um so miss wilborn will of course also meet all of the required conditions under section 9-703
for this specific use so some specificity in addition to uh the use of security guards
well let me start with this her proposed hours of operation are thursday to saturday 9 p.m to 2 a.m
She will have multiple security guards present during all open hours through and including closing at 2 a.m., and then they will remain on site until everything is cleaned up, locked up tight, and the staff has left for the evening.
This is to ensure that there is no congregation in a disorderly manner outside of the premises and that there's no illegal activity going on under her watch.
No illegal drugs or activity will take place at the premises.
The security guards will ensure no public nuisance.
She has no intention of using pyrotechnic devices, fireworks, explosives, or other material.
She understands the requirements if a promoter is involved and ensuring that that promoter is licensed and follows all city ordinances.
She does not propose to serve food or alcohol. It will be a bring your own policy, although employees will continually monitor for invisibly intoxicated patrons, as well as provide services, clean up and such.
under the code we believe if my math is correct the first floor space is 1164 square feet
I believe that would permit up to 77 my client is proposing to limit the number of occupants to 49
I believe the magic number under the code is 50 and to the extent because we are here for a special
exception if we have to say 50 then it would be limited to 50 occupants as opposed to 49
uh interior uh the idea is to have tables and chairs couches booths so that the it has a bit
of a lounge floor there will be a lounge feel excuse me and there will be a dance floor
as well i think i mentioned already two to three employees in addition to the guards
no live music is intended it would be pre-recorded only and every effort will be made to ensure that
noise does not emanate from the premises during those hours of operation. I have photographs to
show, but just generally speaking, the surrounding area has many vacant buildings. It's very commercial
along that block. There is residential directly across the street at 15th Street. However, we
have multiple letters of support from neighbors in that 3800 block of North 15th Street. They are
part of our packet. The only parking is street parking. The intention is to bag trash stored at
the premises and utilize the service of a commercial trash service. My client is cognizant
and aware of potential violence in the neighborhood. There was incidents at a now closed bar, if I'm
not mistaken uh down the block and as part of the safety protocols and the reason to have multiple
security guards every night while the while the premises is open uh last thing i'll address in my
uh statement before i get to any photographs and and show the board what the building you know the
the lay of the land so to speak the lease is for the entire building the proposed use is for the
first floor only. Presently on the second floor, there is apartment or residential space. However,
that is intended to be used by Ms. Wilborn on an as-needed basis. She maintains her primary
residence at the address that's stated in the application. Second floor is convenient. A late
night, she doesn't want to travel back to Northeast Philadelphia. She would intend to stay at the
at the apartment. So this is a wedged shaped property and I'll zoom in just a bit so you can
see it. It's right at the corner of 15th Street and Germantown Avenue and it's in that pie shape
wedge photograph just showing that we did.
wedge photograph to showing that we did post, although I don't think it was necessary,
but you can see two means of egress on to 15th street. And then the building from the
Germantown side likewise has three doorways for exiting. This right here is a stairwell
up to the second floor. The primary entrance is at the corner.
where the wedge begins. And then it's just another perspective looking up Germantown Ave.
We do have floor plans as part of our submissions. This is showing the first floor space. It is
really just generally open space. Second floor is indicated here with each room designated and
where it is. Right here, just for perspective, this is that doorway that I pointed out
that leads off the street right into a staircase up to the second floor.
This is the shot looking right at the corner of the wedge. This is the main entrance into that first floor area.
Another view looking at the split. 15th Street is here. Germantown Avenue is here. Residential properties along this side of the block, along Germantown Ave.
So here's the building right here off to the right. And as you can see, it's generally commercial space.
down the block. This is an old church. My understanding is this church is no longer
occupied and it is not used for as a place of worship or it's not occupied presently.
But I did want to point that out. And then adjacent to the building is commercial first
floor with residential upstairs. So the proposed use of the first floor is continuing as commercial
is in line with the block of Germantown Ave, at least on the same side that the property sits.
shot of the property just looking down 15th street you can see this building has some boarding up on
it look down germantown avenue again there's a better shot of the church and you can see here
this is used as a commercial lot i believe it's an auto shop across the street looking at that
same perspective and then this is a shot looking up germantown ab the building is over here on the
left and this is from the church looking up the block. This is the basement used primarily for
storage. No occupancy is intended. First floor looking towards the front door that I indicated
at the wedge. We're in the wider part of the wedge here looking towards the more narrow section
and then a view looking back from the front door into the building.
again just a shot of the first floor looking from
this perspective looking left is what this is indicating where the bathroom sits
so now I've taken us on to the second floor just so you can get a feel of what's here
and again it's an apartment with a kitchen one bed rooms that's the hallway that leads to the
the other apartment small little living area slash bedroom and then again the kitchen
and a bathroom in that other unit and then what we have here are letters of support from the
surrounding neighborhoods some are 3800 block north 15th street some are 3800 block of
Sindenham have. So are there any questions where I can have my witness at my client adopt my
testimony? Before we go there, what was the vote of the RCO? The RCO, you know, I don't recall
seeing a formal letter from the RCO, but my understanding was that they were opposed to
the use and it was primarily for safety concerns hillary do we do we have what the vote was
oh i'm sorry ryan do we have what the vote was
i'm just i'm just taking a look at the documents we have right now okay sure thank you ryan
after that meeting we had i had sent numerous emails to the rco asking for a formal response
And again, I don't have anything saved and I don't remember receiving anything yet.
Later from the 13th Ward RCO committee, indicating that directly affected residents and the 13
Ward's committee members are requesting that the elected officials and the ZBA
that disapprove the request of zoning variance.
disapprove the requested zoning variance.
All right. Thank you very much.
Bring your client on, please. Thank you.
Shiree should be there.
Shiree Wilborn, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
sherry wilborn s-h-y-r-e-e w-i-l-b-o-r-n right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole
truth is nothing but the truth yes we see you counsel thank you miss wilborn were you on this
hearing the whole time that i was providing testimony and and uh providing explanation
of the exhibits to the board yes okay and do you agree with my statements and adopt them as your
own yes okay thank you questions from the board no chair any no mr chairman okay mr chair this is
again i just want to indicate that i do have the uh the meeting summary and it was uh 10 votes in
opposition from the RCO board. Thank you very much. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, we have Charles Richardson. Good morning, Mr. Richardson. As you were,
you've already been sworn. Just state your name for the record. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Charles
Richardson, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass from 508 City Hall. The councilwoman is opposed
to granting the variance on this property.
It's already been functioning on and off ever since 2021 with different types of things.
Most things that you can probably find online at this point is that they've had dancers
and they've had hookah bars, things along those lines, and 25 women, and blah, blah, blah.
I just wanted to also point out to Rich that we received nothing from you guys with regard to the form letters that were delivered to me that you have presented today, so we couldn't vet those, and the RCO did not receive those either.
Also, the church down the street that you mentioned is not open, that is closed, it's actually open.
So, you know, it's just not a great location for what they're planning to do there.
You know, the hours are out of range for what should be happening at that location.
It's going to affect the neighbors nine times out of ten.
So the councilwoman is opposed.
Thank you very much.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning, David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed-use zoning at this location.
The appellant has shown that the proposed assembly and entertainment will have no detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might be expected from this use.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed special exception for assembly and entertainment.
Thank you.
MI 2022, 002-815-3852 Germantown Avenue.
I vote no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no.
LeBaron?
Yes, sir.
Could you vote, please?
LeBaron Leonard Palmer, my vote is no.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much.
OK. Let's go to number. Number 12.
MI 2023 001 513 1929 South 3rd Street.
Henry Clinton is the attorney. Letter of non-opposition from the Pennsport Civic Association.
Letter of non-opposition from Council Member Squilla.
what is your chairman good morning mr clinton could you state your name is spelt please for
the court stenographer sure henry clinton h-e-n-r-y clinton c-l-i-n-t-o-n do you swear
a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you identify
your client the relationship to this property sure my client is cara c-a-r-a leone l-i-o-m
it's a brigade association
Brigade Association. And Steve Gallagher is with the club and he is on the call.
and Steve Gallagher
is with the club
Our vice chair has just a few questions here. Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed in all
the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing? I have except for the tax certification,
which I think came in maybe three days before the hearing date, but everything is in.
understood please proceed and show your screen counsel thank you mr sheehy no problem
is that visible mr chairman yes
good morning mr chairman members of the board henry clinton on behalf of carol elm association
a principal of that club is stephen gallagher in gaelic carol yo means uh friends of mine
pardon me, means friends of mine. And it is a brigade, a wench brigade that marches annually
in the New Year's Brigade and a New Year's party and parade on Broad Street and sometimes on Market
Street. The club has been in existence since 2005. So it's a relatively newcomer to the
Mummers Association, but it is 75 members strong and growing. So the request today is to expand
their existing clubhouse on South 3rd Street to match the depth of the other clubs that are on
the block. And I'll show you with aerial photographs what I'm talking about, Mr. Chairman,
members of the board. Quaker City String Band is on this block. Shooting Stars is on this block.
And the Irish Society is also on this block. And an aerial view will demonstrate the depth of
these properties. And basically, our club is trying to match the same depth of these properties
because it needs additional storage, additional meeting area, and additional event space.
These are my documents I intended to discuss today. The table of contents contain A1 through
A10. I ask they all be admitted into evidence for this hearing. This is the refusal. So we have
three refusals. Basically, this is an RSA 5 zoning district. And most of the Mummers Clubs are in an
RSA 5 zoning district because they're all along 2nd Street and 3rd Street in South Philadelphia.
And we have one refusal with regard to the residential use. We obviously are not a residential
use. We're a mummers club, and we also have two-dimensional variances, basically for rear
yard and for open space. We do have a letter of support from Pennsport. We met with them back in
June, I believe, and we did have support from the individuals that were there, especially
two immediate neighbors, one directly behind the club, who may be on the call today,
as well as other individuals in the neighborhood.
This is the photograph looking west.
This is an elementary school across the street.
This is the property right here where my cursor is.
You can see with the red dot, it does not take up the entire rear yard.
To the immediate left or south of our property is the shooting stars.
You can see they have 100% lock coverage.
may have a small rear yard. In the next building over is the Irish Society, and that also has
almost 100% lot coverage. And the largest building is the Quaker City String Band.
So these three entities have been in existence far longer than Caroleome has been. Thus,
there hasn't been a need for Caroleome to expand until recently, where the membership is increasing
and continuing to increase.
Their community involvement continues to increase.
They have an Easter egg hunt.
They work a lot with the Irish Society
on community outreach
and doing different community activities.
This is a view of South 3rd Street looking north.
This is an aerial view straight on.
Quaker City is to the right of the Irish Society.
The Irish Society is here. Shooting Stars is here, where my cursor is, and our club is right here.
So we're asking to expand the rear yard basically to match the four or five buildings to the south of our location.
This is the front view of the entrance to the club, the interior of the club.
and this is the rear yard this is the adjacent property which is shooting stars which as i
which is Shooting Stars, which, as I said, takes up just about 100% of the lot coverage.
said takes up just about 100 of the lock cover
This is the rear of our property.
Again, another front view just to show you the zoning notices have been properly posted.
And these are the plans.
So the existing building is where my cursor is on the left.
And the request is that the building be expanded as per the drawing in the middle.
again, to accommodate event space, meeting space, storage, and for community activities.
The rest of the documents are typical documents you would see, Mr. Chairman, in a presentation
such as this.
This is the zoning map, again, one of the exhibits in our table of contents, showing
you the residential character of the neighborhood.
Even across the street, it's zoned RSA 5, even though there's an elementary school there.
And Quaker City, Irish Society, as well as Shooting Stars are all located within an RSA 5 zoning district, and they all have the distance in their building that we're asking for here today.
So, in conclusion, we're asking that this building be expanded to assist with Cara Leone, a wench brigade in the Marmers Association.
Again, it's a recent organization as compared with some of the other longstanding Mummers Association groups on the block, Shooting Stars, Quaker City, as well as the Irish Society is not a Mummers group, but it's basically a civic organization for Irish dancing and other community events in the neighborhood.
We believe the use is in harmony with the other uses on the block.
It's in harmony with the code.
It's going to assist this club in growing and accommodating the materials, equipment, and other items they need to store in the building.
It also will help them continue their 18-year run in dancing and brigading in the Mummer's Day Parade on New Year's Day.
So with that, Mr. Chairman, I would entertain any questions after I ask my client to introduce himself and adopt my testimony.
Why do you bring your client on?
Mr. Gallagher, can you unmute yourself?
Mr. Gallagher, you're free to speak.
Mr. Gallagher, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Steve, can you unmute yourself?
he's unmuted but he's just we can't hear him all right um counsel you're an officer of the court we
will gladly take your testimony um just one question what was the vote of the uh the rco
there's no summary mr chairman but i was at the meeting uh no one really voiced well
we can see the next last paragraph no opposition from the neighbors so all right no one there
voiced any opposition all right questions from the board no mr chairman no chair questions or
comments from the virtual audience i see no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman
and good morning david fechto with the city planning commission chairman and board members
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
This property has a longstanding use as a fraternal organization, so granting the proposed use variance will be in keeping with the property's history.
However, the appellant has not shown that an economic detriment will accrue if they are required to comply with the dimensional requirements in the zoning code.
So the City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant a proposed use variance for a fraternal organization, but deny the proposed dimensional variances for rear yard depth and maximum occupied area.
Mr. Clinton, you want to respond at all?
Yes, certainly. And I think there is one neighbor on the call, actually the neighbor who is immediately behind the building.
Why don't I call that? If someone has their hand up, please bring them on.
Chair, we have I
the hand keeps going up.
Okay, we have Eileen Kelly right now.
Good morning, Ms. Kelly.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the
court stenographer?
Eileen, can you unmute yourself and speak?
She's unmuted, but we're not able to hear her.
She's unmuted,
but we're not able to hear her.
Thank you.
Ms. Kelly?
Mr. Clinton, why don't you respond, and then we'll go to the other.
Sure, Mr. Chairman.
So from this aerial photograph, which I showed to the board during the presentation,
I showed Quaker City String Band, the Irish Society, and Shooting Stars.
All of these buildings have almost 100% lot coverage.
Our property or our proposed expansion is coming back basically to meet the depth of the adjoining buildings.
These other societies and organizations, fraternal and members groups, have been in existence far more decades than my client's organization, which started in 2005.
They're asking to be treated as the other clubs on the block are treated.
They're a fraternal organization, as Mr. Fecto mentioned.
Not only do they provide activities for their members, but they have outreach in the community.
They work closely with the Irish Society, Easter egg hunts, other community activities, and just supporting the neighborhood in general.
So. All right. All right, Mr. Clinton. Thank you.
Thank you. MI 2023-001-513-1939 South Third Street. I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ismail Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Clinton.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
That was a great day.
Let's go back here.
We have two cases we're still waiting for, right?
Okay, number eight, MI 2023-001-515-2221 South Bouvier Street.
Mary Rose Roach is the attorney.
Okay, Chair, unfortunately, we can't promote Ms. Roach, but we can allow her to speak.
Okay, will she be able to show her documents?
And Chair, if I may, excuse me, Ms. Roach, what kind of device are you using?
oh here she is chair okay good morning miss roach good morning how are you today
hi good could you state your name please as bell for the court stenographer
yes my name is mary rose roach that's m-a-r-i-r-o-s-e last name r-o-a-c-h
you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do could you identify your client in relationship to this property my client is
michael domico he is the owner of the property all right and our vice chair has just a few
questions for you good morning counsel do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy yes have you emailed in all the documents required documents and
exhibits that are needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing
Yes, excluding the tax certification and pictures of the backyard, which I emailed about three days ago.
Okay, please proceed and show your screen.
Okay, are you able to see?
Yeah, it's your refusal. We see it. Yeah.
Okay. All right. So my client is submitted this appeal because he is requesting that the Zoning Board of Adjustment approve his addition of a deck attached to the second floor of his home.
one refusal here that he has to apply for a variance where the the deck is not at floor level
it's raised at the second level and it um it's constructed into the the back nine yards of his
property which would be in his essentially his backyard um sorry these are just the documents
that we submitted here just trying to get to the um so this is the property here um
we did have a rco meeting with um the south philadelphia rco south broad street west rco
South Philadelphia RCO, South Broad Street, West RCO, and they did have five votes, then all approved his appeal.
And they did.
As of right now, there hasn't been any known opposition to the rear deck.
My client has also made sure that any, let me, sorry, scratch that.
I think, oh yeah, he, my client made sure that he posted the notice on his store and
he took a picture of that there.
There's a closer picture here.
You can see that.
I can pull up the pictures of the rear deck.
I just have to go to the email.
so if you just bear with me here, there we go. So this is the rear deck here,
his backyard, back door, and this is the deck.
It's about, well, it's four feet in depth in the back of his property out into his backyard.
there will be a three foot high railing that goes all the way around it and it's about 12
feet in length. It's the length of the property. I believe they also got his tax certification here.
so we haven't received any opposition um i don't know i can't hear you guys i don't
can you can you hear me we hear you we hear you okay i'm sorry this is why don't you bring your
client why don't you bring your client on and adopt your testimony great um
so he he says he's on I just don't know if he is able to tell him to raise his hand
Mr. D'Amico you need to push the button with the high five it looks like there's a
hand raise button
he had a hard time getting him on this morning um so so counsel you're an officer of the court
we will gladly accept your testimony thank you questions from the board
no mr chairman no chair uh questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good morning
david effecta with the city planning commission chair and board members the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location the rear deck
appears to have been built without the benefit of permits the city planning commission recommends
that the board deny the proposed dimensional variance from the rear yard depth standards in
the zoning code okay thank you mi2023 001 515 2221 south bouvier street i vote yes
thomas holloman my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes council you have your votes thank
you thank you have a good day okay mr chair this is hillary i just wanted to interject quickly
and then we have one one other case um and but before that i don't know if it was noted that
number 14 um was withdrawn um can you i'll put that in i'm sorry i'll put that in the record
okay thank you so much mi2022002764 5235 jefferson street that case has been withdrawn thank you
Okay, now we're going to go back to
MI 2023-001-453-5446, King Cesson Avenue.
David Sprittle.
Mr. Sprittle is coming back in as a panelist.
good morning sir hey you've already been sworn how are we making out with your computer okay
i think i figured this year so okay all right so just just i want our vice chair to have just
a few questions for you please good morning sir have you emailed in all the required documents
Good morning, sir. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to proceed in this case five days in advance of this year?
and exhibits that are needed and required
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Okay, this was a water, rice, and ice cream thing for a bunch of years. I brought it.
Now that just, everything was existing except I put the exhaust system in for the cooking, which you see right here going up into the roof.
Uh, right here.
Uh, my, um, documents.
My plans.
So that's the only thing I really changed and everything was, was in there already.
I just put the cooking hood.
Go back again one minute.
I want to see where that you say your plans.
Let me see what that is.
Go back.
this one here is that your property there yeah okay let me see it and how long how long has
that been there i was like it was like a popular uh water ice thing jack's water ice i think it
been there he's been at least since the 60s okay and and what do you what services are you adding
oh so i'm just doing take out like um healthy foods turkey burgers wraps
stuff like that smoothies
thank you
and you have a letter of support
from the Southwest Philadelphia District Services
right yeah
do you remember what that vote was
oh everybody
voted on behalf of me yes
alright good thank you
questions from the board
no Mr. Chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good morning david fechta
with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change the residential single family zoning at this location this property has a documented
history as ground floor commercial dating to at least 1963. The City Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant the proposed use variants for a takeout restaurant.
Thank you. MI 2023-001-453-5446 King Sesson, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Sir, you have your votes. Thank you.
Thank you.
All right.
All right.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 930 case has not been called?
I've seen no hands, Chair.
Okay. Thank you, everyone. Thank you for the morning work. We'll see everybody at 2 p.m.
Thanks, Chair.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's EBA hearings.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Thomas Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
We also have LeBaron Leonard Palmer from Development Services, who will be serving as our alternate board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings will be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phila.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at this afternoon's schedule.
number seven MI 2023 002 757 4535 Pulaski Avenue this case is continued and number 15
MI 2023-002-760-46
0-0-2-7-6-0-47-20 Richmond Street, that case is continued. Are there any other requests for
continuances? Good afternoon, Chair. This is Fatina. I'll be your co-host for this afternoon.
Thank you. I see no handshare. Okay, so we're going to go to our add-ons.
Number one, MI 2023-002-586-2100-12 Rush Street, I vote yes.
Thomas?
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Number two, MI 2022-007-291, 430 West Burke Street.
The vote on this matter is being rescheduled to Wednesday, October 11th at 2 p.m.
in order to allow for additional discussions between the applicant, the RCO, and the council's office.
In addition, the record is being reopened for the limited purpose of receiving feedback on the discussions from the applicant, the RCO, and the council office.
Number three, MI 2022-005-922-1719 North 2nd Street.
The vote on this matter has been rescheduled to Wednesday, October 4th, 2023 at 2 p.m.
Number four, MI 2022, 004-231-4501 Woodhaven Road.
I vote yes, Wood Proviso.
Per refusal, dated 7-28-22, revised plans, two pages, stamped by ZBA, September 27, 2023.
thomas holloman my vote is yes with provisos
it's no shaheed my vote is yes with provisos we're gonna go to our main list i'm gonna start
with number two mi 2023 002 8841 1172 north 63rd street brett fellman is the attorney
letter of support from neighbors of Overbrook Association, and letter of support from Councilman Jones.
Mr. Feldman has been promoted as a panelist. Hi, Mr. Feldman. Mr. Chair, members of the board,
good afternoon. Brett Feldman. Hi. Brett, just for the record,
or do you spell your name for the court reporter?
Yes, absolutely.
Brett, B-R-E-T-T, Feldman, F-E-L-D, M-A-N.
Right.
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?
Dr. Charles Champion, Champion Dentistry, 1172 North 63rd Street.
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel.
do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and
required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen. Great.
My screen is there. Yes. Great. I just wanted to make sure before I continue that the rest of my the rest of the team is on Dr. Charles Champion, who is really the star, the star of this show.
Make sure he is he has been promoted as well as his wife, Michaela Racine, as well as from our sign company, Sharon Brandt and Howard Chin.
So why don't you start, and when we need the witnesses, we'll call them, okay?
Sure, sure.
So again, Brett Feldman, I represent Dr. Charles Champion, Champion Dentistry.
As you'll hear from Dr. Champion, he has been a dentist at this location now for, I think it was either 25 or 30 years.
He's been a pillar in the community, providing much-needed dental care in this West Philadelphia neighborhood.
And as you saw from, I think the letter of support from the community, the council person has really been a pillar for dental health in this in this neighborhood.
A PILLAR FOR DENTAL HEALTH IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD. I PASSED UP EXHIBITS 1 THROUGH 13 WHICH I'D ASK TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE RECORD.
I passed up.
REFERENCE HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE TO THE LETTERS OF SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY AND AS WELL AS THE COUNCILMAN.
SO LET ME GET RIGHT TO THE EXHIBITS THEMSELVES.
YOU HAVE THE REFUSAL.
this is a permit just uh showing how far the dental office going back to 2002 actually found
one today from uh earlier from uh the 1990s uh as far as how long the dentist has been there
at this location uh here here is so we could get our bearings this is malvern avenue this is 63rd
street uh in in west philadelphia um this is the corner property uh where the dental office is
located. The area will better help you see the location. Again, Malvern, 63rd Street. Here's
Lancaster, 62nd Street. But again, we're right at this corner. And here's the site photos. This is
once a residential property. 30 years ago, it became a dental practice. And this is the sign
that we're looking to replace, and many people know it's an iconic sign in the neighborhood.
It's a large tooth that says Champion Dentistry. It has been the main identifier of this business
for many years. The doctor has kept that sign going. It's actually falling apart right now,
and the time finally came to come up with a new modern interpretation of the Champion Dentistry
sign, which is what we have proposed here today. So again, 63rd Street and Malvern that we border.
Here's some additional pictures of the sign itself.
Here's coming from the Malvern location, and then the dental office is here.
That's right across the street on 63rd Street.
uh dr champion will be testifying but this is dr champion here and his and uh his staff uh the
inside is a state-of-the-art dental facility with all the modern accoutrements um uh full
full service uh dental uh practice uh here's some more pictures uh could go on and on with
the pictures and the modern dental care that's that's taking place here at this location
here is the site plan uh here's where there is that existing sign which is right here at the
corner. And again, we're looking to replace that sign with a new modern sign that also has the
same tooth, as you'll see, as tooth motto, and also has a messaging board, which as you'll hear
from the dentist is important, so they can provide much needed information about appointment
availability, days and hours of operation, dental clinics, dental screening, and other community
THE BENEFITS THAT WERE IMPORTANT FOR THE DENTAL OFFICE TO CONVEY, WHICH THEY STRUGGLED
TO CONVEY OVER THE MANY YEARS.
AND HERE IS ANOTHER SITE PLAN, BUT HERE IS THE EXISTING, AND HERE IS THE PROPOSED.
I THINK THIS WAS THE BEST WAY TO, IF YOU CAN JUST GET THAT IN THE SCREEN HERE, THAT
is the best way to see it. It's right at the same location. It's a little bit bigger, but
this is, they wanted to keep the Tooth logo, which is really iconic to the business. And
then here in the middle is the messaging board, which provides information about, again, their
services, hours of operation, and other services and events that they will be holding. We spent
a long time with the community who supported this, talking
about, you know, how brightness and all those items
that we could certainly get into those, but they
understood the importance of the sign to the dental practice, the community,
and issued their letter of support.
We have some specs on the sign itself, as far as the height, as far as the size.
We could certainly get more into that with Foreman Sign, who's on the call.
It's also here. Here's our posting photos. But that's the big, that's the sign that's there right now. It is, you can see it's been painted over and over. It's literally falling apart out there on the location.
So we thought if we're going to replace it, we should really do it the right way with a modern interpretation and provide the necessary information.
So with that, I'd like to have just the doctor, Dr. Champion, if he's on, just briefly explain the importance of this sign to his.
um, just briefly explain, uh, the importance of this sign, uh, to his practice. Um, and, you
know, they've, they've, they've spent years and years kind of putting off getting this sign, but
they really thought the time was, was right now to, to get the sign. Um, so Dr. Champion, are you out
there? Yes. Uh, yes, I'm here. Hi, Dr. Champion. Could you state your name, please, and spell for
the court stenographer uh my name is charles champion uh c-h-a-r-l-e-s-c-h-a-m-p-i-o-n
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do sir please proceed counsel dr but you want to do you want to would it be easier if you put
put your would you put your video on or or are you uh yeah just touch touch the thing is it uh
yeah it should be up in the upper right uh there's three dots i think that's where you
excuse me you wanted the doctor to share his screen oh no i just wanted i wanted him to come
come on oh okay i just wanted to know if i need to promote yeah it's just hard for me to see him
and okay if not it's fine just am i on no one moment i'm gonna promote you to
panelist so you can be seen. Okay, I'm sorry. Hi, doctor. I know you've got to see patients and
we appreciate the zoning board putting us on it too so you can get back to your patients who are
right in the other room here. But doctor, can you just briefly just give the board
a little background? How long you've been there at the location, the services you provide? And
then I wanted to ask you a couple of questions about, you know, why at this point is the sign
absolutely critical and necessary and why it was worth going through this process.
Okay. Yes. My name is Charles Champion. I am from Westchester, Pennsylvania. I started my
practice here at 1170 North 63rd Street. I've been present here for about 32 years now and
have been providing care for our community. We have been providing general dental and
cosmetic dentistry, sleep apnea dentistry for 30 years now and have been attempting to
impact the health of our community in a positive way. The issue for the sign or existing sign is
extremely old and it doesn't allow us to essentially let people know the services we
provide nor the insurances we take or the opportunities for emergency walk-ins or
cleaning for holes in our schedule from the hygiene schedule to allow us to basically
help to provide, you know, better care for our community. We do a number of community service
days. We're doing a sleep apnea day on October 14th for the community. So we will be educating
them in our parking lot, telling them about the benefits of treating their sleep apnea
and helping to reduce high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, also diabetes in our
community. So that's what we've been doing for 30 years. And we would like to update our sign
to make it sort of rival the amount of technology that we have inside of our office.
So our office is pretty much state of the art, but our sign is state of 1950. So we wanted to try and upgrade that so that we could, in fact, promote our business and to help us help the community.
Great. I was going to ask a couple other questions. I think you hit them all. With that, Mr. Chair, we have other witnesses. Certainly can bring on other witnesses if there's any questions that the board has.
um why don't i see what the where the board questions from the board sure for sure uh chair
uh mr champion you mentioned 1170 but on the application it's 1172 yeah do we need to
it's it's both both both buildings uh so we started at 1170 but we expanded to both buildings
and so we have the first floor of both buildings so it is actually the corner uh sign that we were
interested in upgrading yeah there's there's two properties one is next door
um but the sign is actually located right at 1172 north 63rd street
um so this is the way el and i wanted to process it fair enough
So this is the way El and I wanted to process it.
Fair enough.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments for the virtual audience?
Do you want to have Dr. Champion adopt your testimony?
Yes, yes.
Dr. Champion, I know you testified as well, but you heard my testimony as far as the other elements of the matter?
Yes, sir.
And is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, sir.
And do you adopt it as your own?
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Questions from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair, and good afternoon.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
While an identification sign may be warranted to alert patients to the presence of a dental practitioner, the appellant has not shown that complying with the sign regulations in the zoning code would have a detrimental economic impact on their property, and we also believe the sign as proposed would likely be distracting to drivers.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the proposed dimensional variances.
Yeah. Mr. Chair, the only thing I would say is the sign that we're replacing, what's allowed here, because the underlying zoning is very minimal, what we're proposing, what's existing is in excess.
So we get penalized if we try to take down a sign and put a new sign, you know, losing that kind of treatment that we have with the existing sign.
So, you know, we work closely with Foreman Sign coming up with a sign that made sense at this location.
And that was consistent with, you know, the intersection and the history of the property and the prior sign.
Thank you, counsel.
MI 2023, 002-841-1172 North 63rd Street.
I vote yes.
thomas holliman my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you counsel
thank you for your time and consideration and courtesy okay we're going to go to the beginning
of our list mi-2023 002-756-3947 clavard street alan knockerson is the attorney there's a letter
support from juniata park civic association and a letter of non-opposition from council member
Lozada. Mr. Nockamson is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the board, Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N, last name
Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N. Alan, is this your first appearance today? It is.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
Eulon Figueroa is the owner of the property, and he's in the virtual audience.
All right.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
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 ah yes we did thank you please
proceed and share your screen all right so i'm here to present 3947 uh clara straight
In our presentation materials, we have the notice of refusal, a letter of support from the coordinating RCO, as well as a letter of non-opposition from the district council member.
We have rental licenses showing that this property has had a two-unit history since I believe as far back as 2001, at least documented.
Maps of the area, photographs of the property, the interior of the property.
So all we're trying to do is legalize this property.
So when my client purchased the property in 2011, he didn't realize that he had to renew his rental license every single year.
He did it the first year.
And then when he was ready to sell the property, it's when he realized that he didn't need to do it every single year.
Unfortunately, with this only classification of RSA 5, we need to go through this process to legalize that current use.
But you'll see the photographs of the property.
This has been a two-family dwelling forever.
Our plans and drawings, so we took the pictures and we memorialized it by way of our own floor plans, and you'll see that as well.
Our meeting notice, we had a well-attended meeting, and you saw from the letter of support, there was overwhelming support.
I think 15 members of the community voted in support unanimously.
Our application for appeal, showing that we filed the zoning appeal on Mr. Figueroa's behalf.
are deed to the property showing that he owns the property and their certificate of tax clearance.
Our deed to the property showing that he owns the property and their certificate of tax clearance showing that he is in good standing with the city of Philadelphia with respect to real estate taxes for this property.
And then at the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that Mr. Figueroa virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and I'll have a few questions about my presentation.
notice refusal again this is an rsa5 property the only reason why we're being refused is
you know because we're asking for multi-family uh use uh in a property that has a long history
of multi-family use so a letter of support uh from the coordinating rco as you can see
15 votes in favor zero opposed one abstain i think that may have been made because i can't vote for
my own project. Then the letter of non-opposition from the district council member, because the
community was in support of the project, the district council member, Lozada, was in non-opposition
to this project. And then the rental licenses, as you can see, Mr. Figueroa originally got the
rental license in August of 2012. He didn't get it thereafter, did not realize he had to pay every
single year to renew that. But you can see the previous use from 2001 through 2012. There was a
rental license from the previous owner of the property. And then maps of the area. While we're
in RSA 5 district, you'll see how our building is situated. It's not out of character to have
multifamily use. 3945 and 3941 have a history of multifamily use as well. And then this is where
we are in the community. We're between L and K streets, and basically we're just off of Erie.
So again, one of the things to do is help to support the commercial corridor by
having that extra density there. And then photographs of the property, we're right here.
there's proof of the posting for today's hearing and then this is you know Clara Street from the
left and the right of the property and then this is also a property which also has a multi-family
use and then interior photos of the property a couple things to point out you got multiple hot
water heaters which which you know lend to the fact that this has been a multi-family structure
for some time. We have three electrical heaters, meters, excuse me, one for each unit and one for
the common area, again, showing that this property has been used as a duplex for some time.
And then this is just the interior first floor for unit number one. And in addition, more
photographs of unit number one. Here is unit number two, again, showing kitchens, you know,
bedrooms, bathroom. These are each two-bedroom, one-bath units. And then there are plans and
drawings. So a couple things to note, no basement living. There is no roof deck. We're not making
any changes to the building structure whatsoever. Here you come in through the front entry door.
You go up a flight of steps. Unit number one is on the second floor. You come out here. There's a living room. There's a kitchen, dining area, bathroom, two bedrooms.
Instead, you go up to the third floor, same configuration, two bedrooms, a bath, kitchen, and a living room.
We met with the community on July 11th at 7 p.m.
165 addresses were notified of the meeting, listed those addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, our application for appeal that we filed on Mr. Figueroa's behalf.
Our deed to the property, showing that he's the owner of the property since 2011.
And our certificate of tax clearance, showing that we're in good standing.
with respect to real estate taxes.
With that being said, I would ask that Mr. Figueroa virtually raise his hand.
Apparently, there's no hands in the audience.
And I don't even see Mr. Figueroa's name either.
Mr. Nockamson, you're an officer of the court.
Your testimony is fine for us.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair, and good afternoon, David DeFecto.
With the City Planning Commission, Chairman and board members,
chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single families.
family zoning at this location the property has a documented history uh as two dwelling units the
city planning commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variance for two
two dwelling units thank you mi 2023 002 756 39 47 claridge street i vote yes
thomas holloman my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
thank you counsel thank you have a great day okay um next will be number three and four we're
going to hear together, MI-3022-007-603-139-East Lehigh, and also MI-2023-001-459-137-East Lehigh.
Both cases have letter of support from HACE, the RCO, and letter of non-opposition from
Councilmember Lozada.
Daunte and Grady, is the attorney or Clementa Amazon?
Ms. Amazon is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Chairman.
Hi, counsel.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Of course, Clementa Amazon, that's spelled C-L-E-M-E-N-T-A, last name is spelled A-M-A-Z-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client in a relationship to the property, please?
Of course, Dr. Ananin is the owner of the property and the principal of the business as well.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Of course.
Good afternoon, Councilor. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, 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?
Yes, I have.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
can everyone see my screen we can perfect so again my name is clemente amazon and i am presenting 137
as well as 139 east lehigh avenue they are two separate applications however the use for the
property is the same we have identical refusal so i will be presenting both properties at the same
time during my presentation i will go through both of the refusals we do have a letter of support
from the RCO, as well as unanimous support from the zoning committee of the RCO Assay CDC. We have
a petition of support from the nearby community, which includes over 50 signatures, an article that
the city did on my client's medical office highlighting the great work that he's doing for
the community, a map of the area, a photo of the posting of the property, as well as surrounding
area photos, the floor plan, interior photos, our notice to the community of the July 12th
meeting, which was very well attended, our certificate of mailing, the applications for
appeal, projects, information forms, deed, as well as our certificates of tax clearance.
So the property is actually zoned RM1. My client has owned this property since 2000. It's been
used as medical offices, both 137 as well as 139 East Lehigh, dating back to 1974. As you can see
here from the notes on the refusal, we previously did have a variance granted for the use of the
property as a solo practitioner. We are here today to allow for group practice. My client is looking
to expand to have other medical providers within this building as well. And this is our refusal
for 137 East Lehigh, and it is an identical use refusal for 139 East Lehigh. As you can see,
this use dates back to 1972. We are not making any changes to the structure of the property.
We are purely looking to just include more medical practitioners here.
As I mentioned previously, we do have a letter of support from ASE CDC. We receive unanimous
support from the Zoning Committee. It was a very well-attended meeting. There were 33 attendees,
all together from the community. In addition, my client went on foot and also reached out to
various people within the neighborhood and was able to acquire over 56 signatures. So we have
our first page of the petition of support here, our second page, third page, and fourth page of
Our second page, third page, and fourth page of a petition of support.
Thank you.
Also, this is my client in the middle here, Dr. Anaim, who was highlighted by the city for expanding his practice, as well as doing great work to provide medical care to people within the neighborhood that may not have insurance.
He welcomes everyone into his office so that he can assist in any way possible.
And here we have a photo of the property that was included within that article.
again as you can see here and you'll see in the photos of the property as well.
It's two separate structures with separate entrances. We're simply using
it as a medical office and we're looking to expand for a group practice.
And this use isn't uncommon for this particular area. As you can see from this map here,
we are actually across the street from Temple Episcopal Hospital. My client has a great
relationship with the hospital. In the event that he does need parking, the hospital allows
for validated parking, as well as referring clients as needed. And along this block here,
we are actually these two parcels. There is various commercial uses throughout,
both on the corners as well as throughout the block. So this is not uncommon for this
neighborhood in any way. And here we have a view of the front of the property with the posting
for 137 as well as 139. And immediately adjacent to the property, you have another medical center
are at 135 East Lehigh, which is not affiliated with my client, but just to highlight that this
use is not uncommon. A view to the right of Lehigh on the corner, we have a pharmacy, as you see here,
as well as another commercial business adjacent, a close-up of the pharmacy, and active life home
care, which is only three doors down from my client's property, and Temple Episcopal, which
is directly across the street. Again, this use is not uncommon for the area. It's a large commercial
corridor we have going through north and south along east lehigh and here we have the floor
plans of the first floor this is 137 to the left and 139 to the right we have the reception area
which does have a shared wall and there is a door in between to allow for free flow between the two
areas as well as exam rooms in the rear and when you go up the stairs we have an office for 139
And for 137, there is a conference room.
If you go further back, there are identical office suites along the side, as well as storage and a lounge area in 139.
Here we have a view of the reception area for 139, one of the exam rooms.
And this is the office that Dr. Anaim uses for himself, which is upstairs on the second floor.
And as I mentioned, we did have a community meeting with ASE CDC on July 12th at 5.30 p.m.
This is a letter that we sent out to the community regarding that meeting, which was very well attended, including the refusals.
Again, we are here because my client is looking to have a group practice.
Previously, he was approved for a solo practice use.
Again, this use has been used since 1972 as a medical office.
It's not uncommon for the area.
We did send out our certificates of mailing. I am just going to breeze through these as we have
an individual certificate for each property, so bear with me as we go through them.
excuse me and we also have the application for appeal as well as the project information form
I apologize for the delay in getting to those two exhibits
and my client has owned this property since 2000 both 137 as well as 139 Eastley High Street
we do have our certificates of mailing as well
just want to make sure is everyone still seeing my screen here we can okay perfect
So with that, if I can have my client raise his hand so that he can adopt my testimony.
And it's Dr. Anaim.
Doctor, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Doctor, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Ali, A-L-I, Albert, the middle name, and the last name is Anaim, A-N-A-I-M.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Please proceed, counsel.
Dr. Anaim, did you hear my presentation today?
Dr. Anand, did you hear my presentation today?
And was it true and correct?
And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
good afternoon david vecto with the city planning commission chair i'll give testimony for both
properties at once the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential
multi-family zoning at this location these properties have a documented history of use
as a sole practitioner the location of this facility on lehigh avenue is on a wide street
with on-street parking that can accommodate a group practitioner and a reasonable person would
expect to find medical offices across the street from a hospital. So the City Planning Commission
recommends that the board grant the proposed use variants for a group practitioner. Thank you very
much. So MI-2022-007-603-139 East Lehigh Avenue and MI-2023-004-459-137 East Lehigh Avenue. I vote
yes to both. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes to both. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes to both.
Thank you, counsel. Thank you. All right, number five, MI 2023-002-733-8200-22 East
Roosevelt Boulevard. Craig Lewis is the attorney. There's a letter of support from the Roanhurst
Civic Association, and a
letter of non-opposition from Council
Member O'Neill.
Craig Lewis,
could you please raise your virtual hand?
He's coming back in
as a panelist chair. Thank you.
good afternoon hi good afternoon mr lewis could you hi could you state your name please and spell
for the court stenographer i will craig robert lewis c-r-a-i-g-r-o-b-e-r-t-l-e-w-i-s
you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do could you identify your client the relationship with this property
Yes, thank you. I actually represent the owner of the property, Pennypack Shopping Center Investors LP, and they are represented today by Metropolitan Management, as well as their contractor, Diane Quigley of Custom Finishers, Inc.
I believe Diane Quigley is available in the audience, as is Peter Berman of Metropolitan Management.
Okay, thank you. Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his
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 we have there was i believe a
corrected deed that had to be provided just a couple of days ago but the remainder of the
documents were provided the councilman's letter of no objection was actually just received by our
office today but i i understand that has uh been forwarded to your council and it sounds as though
it has been made part of the record understood please proceed and show your screen great thank
you very much so good afternoon uh again i'm craig robert lewis from kaplan stewart i represent the
applicant and owner in this matter. We've been retained by the owner and their manager,
Metropolitan Management. As I mentioned, I do have in the audience with me both Peter Berman,
a representative of Metropolitan Management, as well as our contractor, Diane Quigley,
from Custom Finishers. She's our signed contractor. She's the one who had filed the
permit application that brings us here this afternoon. This matter is an appeal from a
notice of refusal dated April 17, 2023. That's Exhibit A1 in our packet. We appealed that on
May 5, 2023. That's Exhibit A2. And then you can see on my screen the remaining exhibits,
including the project information form, Exhibit A3, and Exhibit A4 being the deed to the property,
tax clearance A5 and then I will skip to A6 which
And then I will skip to A6, which is what truly brings us here, which is our proposed sign package.
As you heard, this is property 8200 to 8222 Roosevelt Boulevard.
The property is certainly unique in a number of ways.
It is surrounded by roadways on all four sides, and although the property fronts on the boulevard, we actually provide no access directly to the boulevard.
All access to the shopping center and the individual tenants are from the side streets.
The property currently, in addition to being improved with the multi-tenant shopping center, has a legally non-conforming existing sign.
You can see in that lower right-hand corner, that sign only identifies our current anchor tenant, the Acme grocery store.
Our client is proposing, in addition to numerous upgrades to the shopping center, to remove that existing non-conforming sign
and replace that sign with a single freestanding pylon sign out along the Roosevelt Boulevard
frontage, identifying not only the grocer, but a number of the other tenants within the shopping
center. The sign itself, all the details have been provided. It's approximately 20 feet tall.
sign panel in total is approximately 100 square feet. The property being located in CMX1 zoning
district actually does not permit freestanding signs of any sort, thus our existing sign being
lawfully non-conforming. We presented our proposal to the Ronhurst Civic Association.
We received a nine to zero vote in favor. In fact, I believe they worded their recommendation as happily support our project.
I believe that's a tribute not only to the signage, but also the work that has been done in the shopping center to improve it over the last several years.
We received, as I mentioned today, a letter of no opposition from our council person.
We are thankful for that. And if the board has any questions other than that for me, I'm happy to answer them.
As I mentioned, I think Diane Quigley could be elevated and would adopt my testimony this afternoon.
Counsel, just out of curiosity, do you have a picture of the existing sign?
I do. And if I may, I'll scroll through a couple of these in case you have not seen them.
This is a rendering trying to give you a perspective of where the sign would be.
And along the boulevard, it's worth noting we are set back sufficiently from the corner so as to not obstruct any view sheds for pedestrians or vehicles.
In fact, we don't own the very corner.
PennDOT condemned a little sliver at the corner of the property.
Again, just one more view shed there.
And then here's the overall shopping center.
And if you can see my cursor, I'll give you an identification.
The existing sign is here along the side of the ACME.
And there you can see the existing sign, which is approximately four feet by 10 feet in size, so approximately 40 square feet today.
And again, you can see it here in a view from Soliave along the side of the ACME.
All right, why don't you have your testimony adopted?
Great.
can we find diane quigley in the audience please diane if you're there and can raise your hand i
appreciate it there's no one in the audience with that name but we have craig lewis and craig
meladosian let's let's try craig meladosian i don't recognize the name but hopefully that is
He must hold Elfie, isn't he?
Well, his hand is down now.
All hands are down.
It's not Craig Bell.
I know that we were having some technical difficulties with our team.
So, counsel, counsel, you're an officer of the court.
We will accept your testimony, okay?
I appreciate that.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
questions or comments from the virtual audience here we have craig lewis that is just me thank
you okay we have no one else here okay i'm here is alice there
who's there diane quigley oh hi diane hi i've been here i don't know
Diane Quigley. Oh, hi, Diane. Hi. I've been here. I don't know why it wasn't working.
Okay. All right. Okay. Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Diane Quigley. D-I-A-N-E-Q-U-I-G-L-E-Y. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed, counsel.
Diane, you were here to hear my presentation to the zoning board this afternoon.
Yes, I was.
And if you were called to testify, would you adopt my testimony as I presented it to the board this afternoon?
Any additions, corrections?
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Additional input from the virtual audience, please.
Anyone else?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David Vecta with the City Planning Commission, Chairman and Board members.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from commercial mixed use 1 to commercial mixed use 2.
The property was rezoned in 2022 to commercial mixed use 1 in a council requested zoning map change.
The City Planning Commission recommended against that bill.
The proposed replacement sign would be allowed in the CMX 2 zoning district.
the city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variants for a
freestanding sign thank you mi 2023 002 733 8200 to 22 east roseville boulevard i vote yes
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
Thomas Holloman my vote is yes thank you counsel thank you very much okay so number six we're
going to hear six and ten together so MI 2023 002 699 1931 West George Street and number 10 which is
MI-2023-002-698-1933
West George Street. Matthew Monroe is the attorney.
Good afternoon, Chairman Bergman, members of the board.
Matthew, one minute, please. Let me see here.
Recommendation of support from United
at Francisville Civic Association.
Counsel, state your name and spell
please for the courts to not record.
Good afternoon, Chairman Bergman, members of the board, Matthew
Monroe, M-A-T-T-H-E-W-M-O-N-R-O-E.
Do you swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify your client in relationship
shift to the two properties? Yes, I'm here today, happy to be here today with Deborah Solo and
Alex Franke, who are a mother-son development team. They own this property, both these properties at
1931 and 1933 West George Street, and that's what we're hearing about today. Our vice chair has just
a few questions, sir. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to his accuracy good afternoon yes i do have you emailed then 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 thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you and uh chairman
bergman if um if the board votes in favor of these uh applications uh we do have proviso plans that
we submitted to the board with just some minor changes to the site plan.
Chairman Bergman, there's these are two applications.
They're very similar.
So I'm going to go through the 1931 presentation.
But the differences between the 1931 and 1933 differences are truly de minimis.
In most cases, they're identical.
So what we have is effectively two very small lots.
Each of them is about 560 square feet. These were created pre-zoning code lots. And so the reasons that we're here today are strictly related to dimensional variances, with the exception of one accessory parking variance for each of the properties, which, for reasons that we'll get into in a second, are reasonable and warranted under the circumstances.
But preliminarily, we've submitted documents, and here's the table of contents.
We're asking that the board accept all of the exhibits into the record
at the end of this hearing.
on at the end of this hearing,
we've got the deed and the refusals.
We'll just go over these quickly.
As I mentioned, they're primarily
with the exception of the parking refusal,
dimensional refusals that are directly related
to just creating a livable space on a livable homes
on both of these properties.
And this is not a case where the developer is seeking
to build something that's a way out of whack with the uh conditions of the existing neighborhood and
lot uh they're just trying to deal with what they have which is a very very small lot so um the the
variances that we have are for rear yard um that is you know obviously directly related to the the
depth of the lot um and uh for height of the building this is just a a few feet above uh
the 38 feet permitted, but with the proposed clear railing, and they're not going to have a solid parapet.
The intention here is to allow for light and air to pass through.
And as the chair is aware, you can build a parapet wall up to, I believe, 42 feet.
So the roof line, when you have a see-through railing, should effectively have no difference between that.
So the architects have been making attempts to minimize the visual impact on surrounding properties.
Here we have the petition for the appeal.
And I'll just go quickly through some of the photos.
I think that there's such a clear hardship for, based on the small size of the lot and the need to get in a livable space, but I will just show the context of the lot itself is, it's located on this block of West George Street, which is a former cartway.
And as you can see, there's already dedicated parking. Understanding that's not necessarily a reason to add accessory parking. But as you can see, there are some additional safety concerns. This is in the Francisville neighborhood.
and um just as with any neighborhood in philly when you have uh there's parking is really really
tight um and here it's impossible to park uh on the street so we're not be taking any parking
spaces away from uh anybody on west george street by adding accessory parking we're actually
giving an opportunity to take uh two cars away um from competing for other parking spaces within
the neighborhood and uh it's warranted here you can see there's uh existing and legal curb cuts
and although it's not part of the package uh there's an adjacent property it uh it's a 1929
west george street this board did grant uh variance for uh accessory parking and that's
immediately adjacent to these and that's uh just another indication that um the requested variances
for parking are not out of whack with the character, existing character of the block
in the neighborhood. The property itself, we did get the support letter. We do have the tax
certificates. And the property itself, my client is looking to use unique materials. And here you
can see the changes in the plan were effectively to remove a pilot house. We did not have a refusal
for the pilot house, because it's an exempt structure under the code. But when the architects
were considering, again, that visual impact of the massing in bulk on top of the building,
they decided to remove that. And the structure you can see here on top, these are actually
proposed solar arrays. My client is hoping to build a building that does not rely on the grid
for electricity, if at all possible at all. And so this is both of these homes would have a
would have a solar array on on the top. They're proposed for a roof deck. And here's the parking
stall. So the parking stalls would not just be like a front loading garage type situation. It's
designed to sort of keep it open and airy. So that way, you know, it's not just like having
a canyoning effect on the already narrow west george street um we did present uh the proviso
plans uh which i will show you when they are very similar to each other's um at the uh at the rco
meeting which was well attended um and you can see uh here uh this revision cloud shows that the
here uh this revision cloud shows that the pilot house was removed and um uh there's also some uh
pilot house was removed
items that don't really impact zoning like uh removal of a um crawl space uh and then they're
going to be adding an interior stair um spiral staircase to access the roof deck um that is uh
again not going to be changing the envelope of the building at all but that was one of the changes
that was made in the proviso plans um but this is uh again just effectively the the the hardship
here is that it's necessary to um have the uh the height and depth variances in order to have
these more livable spaces the modern building code requires uh in order to have the uh pairs
sorry the stair uh passages and uh the passways through the um the home uh in just in order to
have a viable new construction livable home these are necessary variances to get for the
very small lots and with that if the board has let me go let me go back the cartway you showed
is that george street yes and yes so the so so the other side of the street is also
facing the cartway yes yes so on both sides of the street this is uh this is a pass through so it's
uh you can see there's parking on both sides of the street right it would be impossible to
do anything but bring a single car down down here but is that that left side here is that
the front or the back of the house oh um this this okay so right here uh where my cursor is
these are the these are the lots this is 1931 right but what i'm saying so the other side of
the street that's the rear of the other side is the back of the house so george street george
street only has one side correct yes okay okay thank you yes and here you can see the frontage
of these uh homes that are uh immediately adjacent to these properties okay um you want to bring your
client on? One of your clients? Yes. Mr. Frankie, are you here? And if you are, if you could
raise your virtual hand. Mr. Frankie, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Alejandro Franke, A-L-E-J-A-N-D-R-O-F-R-A-N-Q-U-I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Receive counsel.
Mr. Franke, did you hear the factual statements that I made on the record?
And do you adopt them as your testimony?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
no mr chairman thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good afternoon david vecto
with the city planning commission we'll give our testimony for both 1931 and 1933 west george at
the same time uh for um the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single
family zoning for these two parcels. These are 531 square foot lots with a depth of approximately
35 feet. This lot size and lot depth creates a clear hardship to the property's use within the
standards of the residential single family five zoning district. And off-street parking is common
on this block as no parking is allowed on either the north side or the south side of the street.
So the City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposed dimensional and parking
variances for 1931 and 1933 West George Street. Thank you. MI 2023-002-699-1931 West George Street
and MI 2023-002-698-1933 West George Street. I vote yes with revised plans,
one page stamped by zba september 27 2023 for both thomas holliman my vote for both is yes
with proviso ishmael shahi my vote is just with proviso on both cases thank you thank you
The next case is number eight.
I'm going to hear that with case number 12.
So MI 2023-002-583-908-14 North 3rd Street.
908-14 North 3rd Street, and also MI2023-003-712-908-14 North 3rd Street.
Darwin Beauvais is the attorney. Letter of support from Northern Liberties Association with Provisos. Mr. Beauvais.
Yes. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. My name is Darwin Beauvais, 1500 Market Street, West Tower, 34th floor.
I represent the owner of the property and as well as the tenants who are here and present to answer any questions.
And also, just to let the board know that the same community group, Northern Liberties, Neighbors Association, did look at both matters and did give individual provisals for both.
So we are willing to accept those provisals as part of our approval, should the board see it fair.
um with with that said could i did i swear you yet yes okay do you swear to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth i do and our vice chair has just a few questions for you sir
good afternoon counsel do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his
accuracy yes i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed
and required.
Perceive it as case,
in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
Thank you,
and share your screen.
And while I'm trying
to share my screen,
if we can also,
I want to identify
an audience,
Meredith Fazio
and April Nett.
And if the board, I just want to start off with, this is Google Maps.
This is an actual view of the property, 908 North 3rd Street.
This front door here will be Unit B, the physical therapy shop.
And just going down the block, this is Unit A, which will be the coffee shop.
Now, we did receive a refusal because this is an RSA 5 zoning classification, and we're hoping that the board approves our application simply because when you look at the neighborhood, we're looking at a park across the street as well as commercial activity along the street.
So, and let me just go to my exhibit packet.
and can the board see my exhibit package we can okay great so just and i will talk
yes and i will toggle between the coffee shop as well as the the therapy the physical therapy shop
um but just to let the board know that our refusal if we look here the therapy
oh that's what
tax clearance. Our refusal, as I mentioned, is RSA 5 for group medical practitioner that's not
allowed in RSA 5. Similar, we are looking at
a similar use refusal for a coffee shop, right?
Prepared food in a building is not allowed in a RSA 5 district.
So just to talk about the coffee shop for right now, let me go to our exhibit 5.
Let me go to our Exhibit 5.
The Menagerie Cafe.
The cafe itself, it's a coffee shop.
The owner is April Nett.
She has, this will be, I believe, her third location.
If I'm incorrect, she will correct me.
And what she plans on doing.
Oh, and her other locations are also in the area, which I'll deal with later on, because Northern Liberties, our experience has been that it's always in a first councilman district, but there's a little nuance that I'll discuss at the end.
So nonetheless, April Nett has had other two coffee shops.
She plans on building one here using that tenant space.
Here's a synopsis of what she plans on serving.
This is a sense of how she's going to do her fit out.
Loading and delivery will be in the front door because if you could see,
North 3rd Street is a tight area, but it's a coffee shop.
It's only prepared food that will be there.
There will be a kitchen to heat up, but this is not a restaurant in the classic sense.
Trash and recycling will also be dealt with via commercial trash pickup.
And this is the menu.
And I myself will be going for the chai latte.
Having said that, here's a rendering of what she plans on doing, and this is a layout of what circulation should look like.
So where my cursor is, our entrance, tables and chairs, lounge area.
Here's the bar where employees will make and serve customers.
Here's backroom operations.
Here's a nicer rendering of that as well.
and this this is the april nets flagship store which just goes to show the kind of product
that she's delivering
like i mentioned before it's rsa5 and let me just go straight to the letter of support
which is here, because we can discuss the provisos at this point.
So we met with Northern Liberties, and they agreed to give us hours of operation of 6 to 10,
which is more than enough, but they were very satisfied with having a coffee shop in that area,
and we too were very excited on coming there.
no all electric cooking in the kitchen we're okay with that no the we don't need ventilation so
there's there's um there's that issue and we have a maximum of 35 seats and we promise to keep the
trash indoors and have commercial trash pickup so that in essence is what the community has decided
We are taking the position that because they've given these provisos, that there's no real negative impact to our request for the use variant.
Now, if I can just jump to the physical therapist.
Again, let me just give the board a quick description.
and money.
So this is a basic narrative, and the board can read along as I'm just highlighting.
This is a unique physical therapist's office, right?
The doctor who's in the audience, Samantha, she is focusing on the pelvic floor.
So this, why?
Because it is a unique practice and it will serve the community.
And I think it will also draw people in because of the uniqueness of this practice.
of the uniqueness of this practice it's perfect for pregnancy pre-birth post-birth and and all
It's perfect for pregnancy.
kinds of pains that people will will suffer when there are issues with their pelvis again
we're looking at this tenant space here
They intend on having several doctor offices in which patients can come in.
Here's a better description of what the practice intends on doing.
As you can see from the brochure, it does highlight and promote birthing issues.
the issues. But nonetheless, I'm pretty sure anyone with any type of pelvic issues could
benefit from our practice. Let me just go to the Northern Liberties letter of support.
Again, they gave us hours of operations from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., which is more than enough.
We have a total of four cubicles, four areas for doctors to see patients, and we've agreed that we wouldn't exceed 15 patients or 15 individuals at any given moment.
Those are all acceptable to us, and we look forward to being there, to serving the community.
Now, I just want to give the board photos that we've taken, but what will probably be more unique will be the photos, the interiors, just so you can see what it looks like now.
That is empty space that we intend on fitting out for the physical therapist's office.
And if we can go to the coffee, this is what it looks like now for the coffee shop.
Having said that, we will like to bring up both Samantha Fazio, Meredith Fazio, the owner, as well as April Tennant, if I can just have them address the board for a moment.
Just to adopt your testimony, Garvin?
I'm sorry, Chair. Meredith Fazio, please unmute yourself.
hi could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer yes my name is meredith
fazio m-e-r-e-d-i-t-h fazio f-a-z-i-o right do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth yes i do proceed counsel miss miss fazio apologize for mispronouncing
your name again um the did you hear the statements that i made before the board today yes and would
you adopt that as your own testimony yes definitely thank you mr chairman if we can
promote or identify april net okay april net please unmute yourself please
good afternoon could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer please
Absolutely. My name is April Nett, A-P-R-I-L-N-E-T-T.
Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Ms. Nett, how are you today?
I am well, thank you.
Good. Did you hear everything that I, all the statements I made to the board today?
Yes, I did.
And would you adopt those statements as your testimony?
Yes, I do.
Okay, that concludes my presentation, Mr. Chairman.
I'll open ourselves up to any questions.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
David Fechta with the City Planning Commission and Chair.
as I've done with the last couple of cases, I'll give my testimony for both of the
zp numbers that we're dealing with sure um so chairman and members of the board the
ZP numbers that we're dealing with. Sure. So, Chairman and Member.
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at this location
this property appears to have a history of use as ground floor commercial um however that history
is not documented in the zoning archive the appellant has shown that the property cannot
be used for the intended use which is single family so the city planning commission recommends
that the board grant to propose these variances for a group medical practitioner and for a prepared
food shop. Thank you. I'm going to vote these separately so we can keep the proviso straight.
So number eight, MI 2023, 002583, 908 to 14 North 3rd Street. I vote yes with proviso. Hours
of operation 8A to 6P, and use limited to unit 908B.
Then I'm going to go to...
Go ahead, Tom.
I'm sorry.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes, with proviso.
So I'm going to go now to number 11, MI 2023, 003712, 908 to 14 North 3rd Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Hours of operation, 6am to 10p, seven days a week, interior trash storage, commercial pickup, and use limited to suite 908A.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Okay, number nine, MI 2023, 00276611 Scherz Lane.
There was a meeting held on 9623, but at this point, we do not have a letter from
the rco there is a letter of non-opposition from council member jones
ryan bolin is the attorney for the purchaser
mr bolin is coming back in as a panelist okay
good afternoon hi council could you state your name and spell it please for the
sonographer. Yes, my name is Ryan Boland, R-Y-A-N-B-O-L-A-N-D. 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
in relationship to this property? My client is Andrew Langsom. He is the equitable owner
pursuant to an agreement of sale. Okay. Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to
accuracy. I will waive the reading of the refusal but will not stipulate as to its accuracy.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to
proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing? Yes. Okay thank you please proceed
and show your screen. Counsel just out of curiosity what is it you don't say is accurate? There was a
typo um an inconsistency in our plans which listed two different building heights one of
which would generate a refusal the one which didn't we've submitted proviso plans which clarify
that um so we believe there should only be a refusal as to use here okay please proceed terrific
um so while i give my introduction right here is just in the background that you can look at here
is the subject property, Eleven Shures, which is this parking lot here, and then the little
building up top. So we're here today seeking a use variance for an ICMX property to build 45
residential units. This is located on the side of a hill in Maniunk, about a half black up from
Main Street. As you can see from this photo here, it's right next to the elevated septa tracks,
And it's also surrounded by the tall walls here of the I-2 zone, Littlewood Dye Works, which is now an abandoned factory.
As the pictures show here, there is a hardship with this unique property in finding a conforming use.
So first off, as I'll go through in more detail, as you can see, Schur's Lane here, it's two lanes.
there's only parking on the other side. And because it's so narrow, there just isn't truck
access. And we'll get into that in more detail. I'm here today with, I will be presenting the
testimony of the real estate agent who listed this property, who's Chris Pennington from BizWent.
real estate agent who listed this property, who's Chris Pennington from Bizwanger. He will explain
his exhaustive attempts between March of 2021 and November of 2021 to try and find a conforming
use, to try and find someone to purchase this, and that he's confident based upon the market
conditions now that it's impossible to find a conforming use here. He tried and tried and
couldn't do it. I'm also going to be here with the testimony of our engineer at Ruggiero Plant,
Dennis Couric, who's going to explain, he'll walk people through the plans, but he's going to
explain that due to the constraints of the site location, it's just impossible to get loading and
also to get truck access, and even if we were to remove the historic facade. I will also have
testimony from my client, Andrew Langsom. He'll testify about the flooding that most recently in
2021 came right up about to the driveway. And he'll also walk the board through all of the
commercial vacancies just down the hill here on Main Street. Finally, as I got into before,
there is a refusal on height, but the height is conforming. It's at 38 feet. We have clarified
the typo on the plans to make it clear that this is conforming. We did get a letter from the RCO
on Monday, which was copied upon the board. And they, in essence, took the position that
I didn't present evidence showing them the exhaustive efforts to market the property.
Since that RCO meeting, I did get in touch with a listing agent, and he's going to testify about
all that today, addressing their concerns. And another concern was that if we remove the facade,
we're going to keep the historic facade, that there wouldn't be an issue here.
So this property here, just to orient everyone, it's 79 feet of frontage, and it's 231 feet deep.
That brings it to about 1,800 square feet, which is 0.41 acres.
Historically, if you can see these little walls here, there used to be railroad tracks.
You can see the one in the bottom right here.
This was a coal yard.
Coal was dumped here.
That's how the property was used.
It's now being used as a parking lot.
And based upon my research, that use is illegal.
There needs to be a special exception.
There isn't one.
So let me tell you a little bit about this property.
So it's going to be a 38-foot-tall building with a ground-level lobby facing Schur's Lane.
I'll walk you through the plans.
So there's going to be 45 units on floors two to four.
As far as parking, the code requires 23 spaces, but we have 37.
And here the garage footprint is 1,800 square feet. We're going to have an eight-foot setback around the upper floors of the property.
So let me just walk you through these photos real quick.
So here's the refusal, which lists two different bases. I'll take you through some of the photos here.
Okay. Here's just a rendering showing you what this building is going to look like.
Here's another rendering. This one is not to scale. The other one is. But just to show you where the balconies are.
And this here stone wall is an existing facade. We're going to build around it. We're going to save it.
we're going to destroy the building, but we want to keep that historical piece here. Again, here's
Google Map. You have Manion Brewing Companies down here, Schur's Lane. This property here in the
bottom is the Littlewood Dye Works, which is I2. Here's another image here. Just more images showing
the tall walls. Another image. So here you are looking at this brick wall is where Littlewood
is down down the hill and this here is our property with the about 25 foot wide opening
here's an image looking down the drive aisle another one here is kind of from main street
looking uphill just so you can see the imposing elevated septic tracks above the property
again another one looking uphill here's one looking downhill um this shows you the the
parking our building is right here on the left this shows the parking on the one lane across
the street and lets you see how narrow and steep this hill is which is a real challenge again our
driveway and here's some photos from inside so inside looking to the right this is the existing
wall of Littlewood it gets really tall a couple stories tall in the back again if you look at
Again, if you look at these towers on the left, this here is looking up back to the left, just showing you how tall the septa tracks just tower over this property, the rear wall.
these towers on the left this here is
Again, this is a it's a bit of a prison in there with all the walls.
Here's a photo just showing when Ida hit, when folks were doing backflips into 676, the water came right up to the edge of this property.
Again, here's a zoning plan, which shows our property right here.
And then this is the I2 of Littlewood.
And I'm going to have my client walk you through this map, which shows our properties right here.
It shows all of the commercial vacancies, which which are important here.
Let me take you through the just I'll just show you these renderings.
You know what? I'll have Dennis in a minute walk you through these through the plans.
So let me switch back. Here's just a sample floor plan here of what what the upper floors will look like.
I submitted the Proviso Plans form. There's also the application for appeal, agreement of sale, project information form, tax clearance, photographs of posting.
If I could have Dennis Kirk, if you can raise your hand, please.
dennis correct you're free to speak hi sir thank you very much could you state your name please
spell for the court stenographer yes it's uh dennis kurek d-e-n-n-i-s-k-u-r-e-k i'm with
regiro plant land design do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes we do proceed counsel and dennis can you just briefly kind of walk the board through
um the the site plan here and and show them where everything is sure so the the green that you see
there is the proposed uh building footprint that's going to be located on the ground floor
a vast majority of the site is going to be surface parking um as ryan mentioned before we
we're proposing 37 parking spaces on the on the ground floor um with just that small area of green
That's the proposed ground floor lobby and residential amenity space on the ground floor.
There's also bike parking provided on the ground floor as well.
Terrific.
And then we also have the trash here on the ground floor in an elevator.
Dennis, can you just briefly tell me about the challenges the site provides as far as trying to find a commercial or industrial use?
So just Dennis the engineer. Correct. Yeah. But but I mean, aren't you going to bring somebody in later to talk about the commercial sites?
I just wanted to tell me that a truck can't turn in here. That's really what I want.
Go ahead. Go ahead. I'm simply just going to say, you know, we looked at various options for truck turning templates.
And with the narrowness of Schur's Lane, with the on-street parking, it really would propose a very difficult situation to have any trucks of any size accessing the interior of the site for loading or deliveries.
And that would make it really, really difficult at its location.
And what if we remove the existing stone facade? Would that remove those impediments?
no it's the issues are based upon the street width and the on-site and the on-street parking
adjacent from the property terrific um that that's all i have for dennis if um chris pennington can
raise his hand please mr pennington please unmute yourself and wait for the chair could you state
your name, please, and spell for the court's demographer.
Chris?
Mr. Pennington,
please unmute yourself.
Mr. Pennington?
He's unmuted here.
He's just, we're not able to hear him.
Um, can you guys hear me? Yeah, we can hear you now. Please state your name and spell for the course. The.
Sure, it's Chris Pennington.
P. E. N. N. I. N. G. T. O. N.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth? Nothing but the truth.
I do. Proceed, counsel. First off, Chris, did you hear my argument and testimony today about
I do proceed counsel 1st off Chris. Did you hear my argument?
the marketing efforts on the property and the inability to find a conforming use
despite your reasonable efforts? I did. And was it true, correct, and accurate?
Yes. You adopted as your own? Yes. And Chris, what's your title? What do you do?
I'm a partner and senior vice president at Binswanger. We're a commercial real estate
brokerage firm. And what area do you focus on? I run the mid-Atlantic region for Binswanger
with a focus on Philadelphia. And how long have you been doing this? 20 years. And have you ever
testified as an expert before this board before? Yes, I have. Do you know how many times? A handful.
Okay, terrific. And when were you retained by the owner of 11 Shares Lane? March of 21.
Okay. And I'll represent to you that part of the packet I just showed the board was a copy of the agreement of sale, which was signed on November 22nd, 2021.
So based upon what you just told me, would you have marketed the property from March till November of that year?
And that's about nine months?
And can you tell me, what were your marketing efforts from March until the time that Mr. Langston signed the agreement of sale?
Sure. So like all the properties that we market in the city of Philadelphia, we put together a very extensive marketing package that outlines the highlights of the property, the zoning.
And we put that together to go after predominantly those that conform with the zoning for the property.
So we went out and talked to industrial groups, commercial groups, as well as investor and developers for this type of site.
we put it on our website we put it on costar we put it on loop net and we send it out to
our proprietary database of users that we have for the city of philadelphia and chris did you
want to find a conforming use or was your goal always to put a residential um developer here
so the path of the least resistance to get to a closing for the seller is to
get into a transaction where no zoning variance is required. So it was our hope that we would
be able to find a user for this property, whether it be industrial or commercial,
fitting within the ICMX zoning classification.
But in fact, you had no success finding a conforming use?
No, not during the process.
And you made good faith efforts to try and find a conforming use during those nine months?
Absolutely.
Can you tell me a little bit about what unique attributes of this property presented impediments to finding a conforming use?
Right. So there are a number of different things.
Dennis mentioned a moment ago about the inability to get a truck into this location.
It has a very limited access point offshore's lane. It's on a hill, so that presents a number
of different issues, specifically from a logistics standpoint where getting either a 53-foot tractor
trailer or a shore truck make it very difficult to do. You have, from a commercial standpoint,
vacancies right across the street from an office standpoint at 10 Shures Lane. There's
space in that office building that's been available for a long time. So the commercial side of it from
an office standpoint is something that we had difficulty with. Remember also we were in COVID
and we have as a city, really as a city, haven't have yet to recover from an office or a return
to office. And then from a retail standpoint, I think Andy is going to walk the board through
the number of different vacancies for retail that are on Main Street, which provide retailers
with much better visibility than you would have up a hill from those locations.
Terrific.
So just to go through some of the impediments, you agree there's no delivery access at this
location?
I don't believe so.
Okay. Did you try marketing this to self-storage?
Yeah, we have done a number of different self-storage transactions all over the city of Philadelphia.
We did make an attempt to go to those groups for this location, and they were unwilling to take a stab at it.
So we did not have success in obtaining a self-storage buyer.
What about for business offices or professional offices? Any luck with that?
What about for business offices or professional offices? Any luck with that?
Like I said, we did a very exhaustive search to find somebody that would conform to the use of this property.
So it was our hope to do that. And we unfortunately were not able to find that buyer.
OK, so to confirm you couldn't you couldn't find anyone interested as a restaurant, gas station, warehouse, wholesale distribution, artist studio, anything like that?
we were not um can you just 20 seconds explain to the board what in today's market would make it um
so that a tenant wouldn't want to go to this location versus uh another location uh possibly
on main street that's already vacant i think mr bolin i think he's already done that okay he talks
about it being on a hill and things of that nature now on main street i think we understand that
Understood. And Chris, just to understand, even if you hadn't done all of this marketing,
do you believe you would ever be able to put a conforming tenant in this property?
If I were evaluating it for the owner, just to evaluate for him, I think it would be very
difficult with the Littlewood warehouse next door. You've got the big septa wall and you've
got limited access to this so i think that the the chances of and the viability of getting somebody
to conform here are very very very small terrific that's all i have for chris i don't know if the
board has any questions if not i'll move on to my client that's it we're fine what who's your
who do you bring in next andrew langson okay
and if you can raise your hand please andrew langson you're free to speak
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. Andrew Langsom.
Can you spell it, please, Andy?
A-N-D-R-E-W-L-A-N-G-S-A-M.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
And, Andy, you're the equitable owner of this property pursuant to the agreement of sale, correct?
That's correct.
And did you hear the statements that I made?
Are they true, correct, and accurate?
And do you adopt them as your own?
And briefly here, Andy, is this picture here I'm showing, which is page 33 of the presentation,
does that show where the floodwaters were as they were receding down Shurs Lane during
Ida in August of 2021?
Yes, Ryan, that's correct.
This is a picture that was taken in the late morning.
The floodwaters actually came up a little bit further.
Being a property owner in the area, I was active around here.
And if you look up here at the picture that you're showing now, you can actually see a great in the ground next to the driveway.
And the floodwaters actually came up that far.
So one of the concerns also when the space was, you know, with global warming, whether that's an issue or it's not an issue, we're clearly seeing storms happen more and more often.
And we're worried that at some point we may be impacted even on this site with water hitting us.
So when it came back to the viability of a commercial user, that was in the back of our minds.
In addition to the floodwater, there is, I would consider significant vacancy, you know, on Main Street and directly across the street.
So there's an office building directly across the street. It's got two available offices right now.
One is over 5,000 square feet. One is over 3,000 square feet that they have been trying to lease without any success.
And then here's a map that I created where I actually walked mainstream.
And you can see a bunch of vacancies within like a one and a half block radius of where we're looking to build.
You know, down in the in the in the right in the right lower corner, you can see the Little Woods building.
And then there is the dwelling furniture building, which has been sitting vacant.
As you go further up, there was a former on the right hand side of the street.
There was a former shared workspace, which is sitting vacant.
There is a haunted house directly across the street, which they're using because they can't get a full term tenant there.
So they use the haunted house, which is basically just one event that they do on an annual basis to fill the first floor because they because, you know, being in the floodplain, they're concerned about renting that out.
As you go a little bit further up the street there, you have the Pompano's Mill right there.
They have a very large vacancy in that building, which is directly on the street.
It's a storefront piece, and that's been vacant for as long as I can remember.
As long as I can remember, if you go a little bit further up on the right-hand side of the street, there's a vacant church that has been sitting there for, that must be there for years and years, and also the Sweat Fitness Gym, the entire second floor of that commercial building, that building, that space has been sitting vacant now since COVID had hit.
If you go a little bit further up on the right-hand side of the street, there's a
So there are a lot of challenges, and that was one of the concerns that the neighbors have brought up. Did we put in the appropriate amount of effort to do our due diligence and find a commercial tenant? When I answered myself, I said that the broker had done his due diligence.
Andy, we're good. We're good. The board, I think, has heard a lot about this. I just have one more question for you.
Yes, yes.
I just wanted to confirm that there is a SEPTA station, as far as regional rail stop, just half a mile up Crescent. Is that correct?
That is correct. It's a quick walk. Yes, it's a short walk.
Terrific. I could go on and on, but I just want to explain to the board, that's all I have as far as witnesses.
But I just want to convey to the board that I believe we've met the five elements here.
there's a hardship relating to the unique physical conditions of this property. Because of those
conditions, we can't develop within the code. This isn't self-inflicted. This is not going to alter
the character of the neighborhood. And this is the least relief we could seek under the code.
And I wanted to remind the board that we do have revised plans that we've emailed. There's three
separate sheets, as well as a proviso plans form. Mr. Bowen, I haven't seen a letter from the
rco what did they say um i i can share it here here yeah
is that 13-0 against um 13 as far as it's unclear because this talks about members not near
neighbors i it seemed like most of the people i was dealing with were on the board board and
weren't necessarily near neighbors, but it shows 13 opposing it, zero, and then one and one. So
14 to one is what it shows out of the 66 notice. And we send 66 notices, but I don't know how many
are near neighbors. But here's their explanation as to why, if you'd like to review that. I can
zoom in if that helps. Mr. Bolin, this is Hillary. This was not sent to the board, so if you could
please send the copy to us for our records, we would greatly appreciate that. Of course. So I
don't want to study this now. So is there questions from the board?
Questions from the board?
no chair
thomas
okay questions or comments from the virtual audience
chair we have john hunter
okay hi could you could hi could you state your name and spell please for the court stenographer
Yeah, my name is John Hunter, J-O-H-N-H-U-N-T-E-R.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
I am the chair of the zoning committee of Maniope Neighborhood.
Okay, fine.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Could I just point out we sent our letter in to all the normal people of contact?
Yeah, we have not received it yet.
I'm sure it might be there, but we haven't seen it.
well it was sent on monday okay sure thank you all right okay um yeah could i start off by saying
that i don't think it was corrected but the description of the project in the refusal
mentions 55 car parking spaces but i think this has been corrected it's now 37 which everyone
seems to be referring to now okay um uh yeah we as as has been described this is i find it a little
contradictory that
this is a landlocked site.
It's got
I2 on one side and
I1, sorry, I2 to the one side
and to the rear. It has
an elevated
railway, which
isn't going to go away, on the other
side, and it's on a steep hill.
It seems that the argument is
that this is not appropriate for
commercial use, but it is
appropriate for residential use, which to me
just is contradictory and doesn't make sense.
The lower two levels of the apartment building are below the level of the Scepter Railway.
So it's only the top floor, the fourth floor, that you can actually see daylight and see across the Scepter Railway.
daylight and see across the um scepter railway so i think our first reaction is that this is
not an appropriate site for residential use even if it were erroneously um zoned as that it's it's
zoned as i see a mix it's been under agreement since 2021 as has been mentioned and has also
been referenced, the year before was the hiatus with COVID, which affected everybody, not only
in Manningham, not only in this area, but everywhere and particularly in the city. So I think Mr.
Pennington's testimony could be addressed to pretty much anywhere in Philadelphia in terms of
disruption and vacancies in commercial spaces. We have suggested that commercial use
or some sort of use, ICMX is such a broad category,
there are all sorts of different uses that could be pursued,
but certainly residential isn't one that is appropriate.
Mr. Langston made his, I mean, our understanding
of what he told us at the two meetings we had with him,
the zoning committee meeting and the public meeting,
is he's primarily a residential developer,
although he does do some commercial.
But the evidence that he gave about the properties adjacent were just his walkabout.
For instance, the dwelling building that he referenced is completely wrong because it's now been sold and is being renovated as a church at quite a considerable cost.
So there is some glimpses of renaissance in the area, and certainly the bad timing in terms of COVID and the way that this developer wants, sorry, the owner, present owner wants to sell it are unfortunate.
But that isn't a reason for granting a variance to change this to residential.
I'd also point out that another thing that is a little curious is that Mr. Langson pointed out to the property being right on the edge of the floodplain.
And if you look at the Ruggiero plant drawing that is in the package, the floodplain is actually indicated.
It's not at the entrance to the property, it's just below it.
But similar to what I said before, it's a little contradictory that people would be suggesting building residential units right on the edge of the floodplain.
I mean, commercial is much better, it's much safer.
One other thing that, of course, comes back to the 55 parking spaces that were initially proposed at the public meeting, which still didn't convince people, and that's why the majority except for one person voted against the scheme, is that there are 37 parking spaces at the moment, whether they're legal or not, it's not up to me to say.
but those 37 parking spaces will be lost and there would be 37 parking spaces which is less
than one to one so neighbors were concerned about parking being displaced onto the adjacent streets
which is already under like everywhere else in philadelphia you've heard it so many times is
already under stress from parking requirements.
And I think that the compatibility with the adjacent areas of, all right, there are offices
across the street, there's a mill building, some of them are being used diagonally across
the street on Crescent Street, there's another mill building which has a silkscreen printing,
is an architect's office. There are quite a few viable and active daytime uses that are being
already used and have been in operation for a long time, despite the vagaries of the COVID
disruption. So that influenced all of our vote. We see no benefit in changing the zoning on this
location. The three levels of
apartments have got poor aspects.
They're located with an 85% lot coverage and with
very limited views.
Mr. Hunter, thank you.
I have no cross-examination. Okay, thank you. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
planning commission thank you chair bergman and good afternoon david fecto with the city planning
commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the industrial and commercial mixed use zoning at this location there is no physical
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 presence of this property
the presence of this property adjacent to the special flood hazard area makes this unsuitable
adjacent to the special flood hazard area makes this uns
for residential use city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed use
variants for residential use in an industrial and commercial mixed use zoning district
thank you david um mr bolin um i want to continue this the vote till next week
we'll vote at uh 2 p.m on wednesday um it'll give us time to go through what what was in the letter
and things of that nature, and we'll take everything into consideration, and we will vote
next Tuesday at 2 p.m., next Wednesday at 2 p.m., okay? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Thank
you. I appreciate it. Thank you, and thanks to everyone who testified. Move on now. We're going
I'm going to go to number 11, MI 2023, 002-737-1814 West Ontario Street.
Pascual Colavita is the attorney for the owner.
There's a letter of support from the Allegheny West Civic Association.
Mr. Colavita is coming back as a panelist.
Hello.
Good afternoon, Mr. Colavito.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
It's Pasquale Colavito, P-A-S-Q-U-A-L-E-C-O-L-A-V-I-T-A.
Right.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and the relationship to this property?
Ernest Peterkin.
Actually, it's J&K Hotpads LLC is the owner.
Ernest Peterkin is the principal.
And our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
And I just want to confirm that you indicated it was 1814 West Ontario Street.
Number 12.
Number 11, right?
number 11 1814 West Ontario okay perfect okay and just to reiterate yes we do stipulate
all right 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
okay I've been informed I spoke with Ms. Emerson so I was just retained yesterday so I'm it's
somewhat of a um disadvantage as to what i typically would when i when i handle these
matters from the beginning but i my client mr peterkin appears to have done a fantastic job
submitting everything and miss emerson did confirm that all required documents were submitted
okay um i think we did receive the letter of support from allegheny
west civic association so please proceed and share the screen okay
hey hillary i don't didn't see the uh tax cleaners are we good
i'll show it yeah yeah we're fine that was submitted okay um again good afternoon all
I'm showing the table of contents.
I will, I guess, mark, move, and submit into evidence as Exhibit A, the deed, the certificate
of tax clearance, notice of refusal, the application, appeal, and project information form, letter
of support from the Allegheny West Civic Association and meeting summary, which within
the same exhibit, I attach a copy of the notice to the neighbors, proof of mailing.
At Exhibit F, I will show you the photographs of the zoning poster that was done in the appropriate time.
Exhibit G is a set of plans that were submitted.
Exhibit H will be a building certification, fire alarm certification that showed its proof of existing use, as well as Exhibit I, which also details the same use.
Exhibit J will supplement that with other similarly situated multifamily dwellings in the neighborhood.
So as you can see, Exhibit D, my client is the appropriate individual who filed the appeal for the permit and the appeal.
Attached is the certificate of tax clearance.
and the refusal this is an RSA 5 zone and our request is to allow a three-family dwelling here
this property prior to his purchase of it was used for a significant period of time
as a three-family dwelling he doesn't know the exact amount of time
as a three-family dwelling. He doesn't know the exact amount of time prior to it since he just
purchased the property, but what I will do is I, in the short period of time that I've been able
to represent him, in between other court appearances, I was able to obtain zoning for,
zoning archives on three properties that are within a block of his property. Attached as,
again is exhibit d uh just to go through again there's in its present condition what the the
problem in retrofitting this property to a single family dwelling the problem would be is it would
cost about 50 to 75 000 per floor the property in its present condition has um each has separate
utilities. It's a single entrance, but you'll see from photographs, there are three mailboxes.
He didn't learn about this until, unfortunately, number one, he purchased it immediately. It was
in February of this year. As soon as he found out when he went to go get a renter's license and was
denied. That's when he made the application. It was listed as a triplex, as you can see
in the shared screen. And we scroll up further. The OPA actually indicates also
three-story masonry apartment three um and again at exhibit j uh 1936 west ontario streets at
three-family dwelling and let me scroll down um show it's three-family dwelling and if i continue
to scroll down 2022 west ontario street um for the board if if i'm going too fast if i'm scrolling
too fast please let me know it's also a uh three family dwelling i think you've made your point
that it was used as a three family dwelling all right and i know that i had well obviously here's
letter of support there were 20 i think there were 22 members that appeared at this hearing
and it was none against the members of the board are all in support
and photographs of uh the poster being put up there
as i said i mean he purchased a property for 162 500 to to remediate or retro it to a single
family residence would would cost in excess of 150 to 225 000 well in excess of the property
council were the utilities originally separated they were they were and as you can see okay what
i wanted to do is i'm going to stop sharing the screen for a second and share the um
photographs of the actual
property itself. I had it.
So that's
18 here's the property itself so this is um and i can go through the years i mean if you say it
even okay i mean i think i understand this was used as a multi-family dwelling and the chevro
there's a few other houses on the block that are also multiple family am i correct you are correct
you are correct and and it's again it's a three-story um there's a two-bedroom and two
one-bedroom properties uh the basement is utilities and why don't why don't you bring
your client on and adopt your testimony absolutely mr peterkin can you raise your hand so the panel
can bring you on mr peterkin please unmute yourself and wait for the chair
Hello, can you hear me now?
Hi, yes.
Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
My name is Ernest Peterkin, E-R-N-E-S-T-P-E-T-E-R-K-I-N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
okay mr peterkin did you have an opportunity to listen to my testimony today i did uh would you
Mr. Peterkin, did you have an opportunity to listen to my testimony today?
adopt would you agree that it was accurate and would you adopt it as your own testimony i do
is that sufficient thank you uh questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes chair we have charles richardson
mr richardson you've already been sworn to state your name for the record and proceed
can you hear me yeah i can okay mr chair charles richardson office of councilwoman cindy bass
room 508 city hall richardson r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n councilwoman has no opposition to granting the
variance. Thank you very much for taking the time to call. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair. Planning Commission. Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David Vecta with the City Planning Commission. Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location. This property
appears to have been converted to multiple units without the benefit of permits through no fault
of the current owner. The appellant has shown that converting this property into a single
family dwelling would present an economic hardship, and so the City Planning Commission
recommends the board grant a proposed use variance for three dwelling units. Thank you.
MI 2023-002-737-1814 West Ontario Street. I vote yes.
my vote is yes thank you ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you thank you counsel
thank you very much maybe excuse yeah you can't you can't all right so number 13
MI-2023-003-582-7500 Central Avenue.
Eileen Quigley is the attorney.
There is a letter of support from the Fox Chase Civic Association.
Ms. Quigley is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Chairman Bergman, members of the board.
How are you? Just state your name and spell for the court reporter, please.
Yes. Eileen Quigley, E-I-L-E-E-N. Quigley, Q-U-I-G-L-E-Y.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
Yes. So just to make a formal introduction, Eileen Quigley, Bowers Bar, LLP, 1735 Market Street, 51st Floor, Philadelphia 19103.
We're here on behalf of Temple University Health Systems, Jeans Hospital Campus, and I just want to confirm our Temple University Health Systems team and the project and design teams are on for this hearing right now.
our vice chair has a few questions for you good afternoon council do you agree to wave
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do may i share the screen oh i'm sorry
have you emailed them all of the required documents and exhibits that are needed and
required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i have um please
Please proceed and share your screen.
We did receive a letter from Fox Case Cancer
Civic Association.
Thank you very much.
Letter of support.
Can everyone see the screen?
Hi, can everybody see the screen?
Yes, yes.
Okay, great.
So as noted, we did submit our exhibits packet to the board.
We have the portions of the signed lease, certificate of tax clearance, and photos of the posted zoning notices at exhibits A through C, as well as a notice to the RCO and neighbors at exhibit I, and the letter of support from Fox J Civic Association at exhibit J.
as noted we did have a an RCO meeting which was well attended on September
13th they are in support of this project this project entails an infill
This project entails an infill, actually, of an existing space.
actually
Here's a photo of the area.
Here's Gene's Hospital here.
The expansion will be within the campus.
It's to the right of the existing emergency department.
So it'll be an infill project right here to the right of that emergency department.
The reason why we're here today is Ellen and I issued a notice of referral because the expansion of the emergency department back in 2005 required zoning board approval, so any expansion of that previous approval needs to come back to you, and that's why we were here.
this infill project for the expansion of the emergency department is a little
over 3,000 square feet of new gross floor area it will allow for an
additional nine exam rooms for the emergency department here's an up close
this will be the rear of the emergency department expansion right here as you
can see these are the zoning plans and you can see that the expansion is right
here in this cross-hatched area it's at least 300 feet away this is the corner
of the jeans hospital building it's at least 300 feet away from Central Avenue
over 300 feet away at Hartel I mean Hasbro and this is Hartel Avenue back
here so it is within the campus renderings of this expansion can be seen
here this is what it will look like once it's done
and I would like to have Matt Shelak from Temple University Health Systems
promoted to a panelist so he can adopt my testimony as well as provide
additional testimony as to the importance of this expansion for not only Temple University
Health Systems, Jeans Hospital, but for the community. Mr. Shelak, you're free to speak.
Mike, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. Matthew Shelak, M-A-T-T-H-E-W-S-H-E-L-A-K. You swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth. I do. Proceed, counsel. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Shilak.
You heard my testimony, my presentation about what this expansion is going to look like
and the purpose of this expansion. Would you say that that presentation was accurate?
I do. Yes. And if you were to testify, would you adopt my testimony as if it were your own
if you are testifying. Yes, I would. Thank you. And I want to just ask Mr. Chilak if he can state
before the board the reason for this expansion for Jeans Hospital, the critical nature of this
expansion, and why we're here requesting this special exception for the expansion.
Thank you, Eileen. And thank you for hearing our case today. So currently, the Jeans campus
emergency room has 19 patient bays. An ED, when planning an ED, an average ED bay can see about
1,600 patients per year. So the 1,900, the 19 bays that we have really gives us capacity for
30,000 emergency room visits a year. Last year in fiscal year 23, at Jeans, we saw 38,000
patients come through the ED. This year, we're expecting close to 42,000 to 43,000 patients
coming through our ED. So right now, we're over capacity, and we've been for the last several
years. So this expansion will give us nine additional bays that will allow us to accommodate
the existing volume and the increase that we're expecting. What this will do for us,
we'll be able to bring on additional providers, physicians, nurses to work our peak hours.
What that will do is that will increase our throughput time in the ED, which is the time
from a patient hitting the door until a medical decision is made on whether to admit them and how
to treat them, as well as it will decrease our hours of divert, which is when due to volume
constraints, we have to notify EMS ambulances that it's difficult for us to take some of those
911 calls. So for us, this expansion, the additional nine bays will take us from 19
to 28 bays and allow us to accommodate our growing patient volume.
to 28 bays and allow us to accommodate our our growing patient volume so it'll be a benefit for
the community uh and we're happy that the project will not encroach on any of our existing green
space it will not change our traffic patterns on campus it will not take uh up any existing
parking spaces so that's why we are here today asking for your consideration thank you Mr.
Shelak and with that chair Bergman and members of the board we would like to note that this request
for a special exception does meet the criteria under the zoning code as we don't anticipate any
detrimental impacts and as Mr. Shelak said this is actually a benefit to the surrounding community
and the city at large thank you council questions from the board no chair no Mr. Chairman questions
or comments from the virtual audience i see no hands chair planning commission
david thank you chair bergman and good afternoon david fechto with the city planning commission
chair bergman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the special purpose institutional zoning
and the residential single-family zoning at this location.
The proposed hospital addition is consistent
with the comprehensive plan's recommended zoning,
which is an expansion of a longstanding use on the property
and will not injure the use of adjacent property.
So the City Planning Commission recommends
the board grant the proposed extension
of the previously approved use at this property.
Thank you. MI 2023-003-582-7500 Central Avenue, I vote yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
Ismail Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel. You have your votes.
Thank you, Chair. May I also move our exhibits into evidence?
You most certainly can. Thank you.
That concludes my business. May I please be excused?
You can. Thank you. Thank you. Have a great.
Good. Number 14, MI2023, 002-695-600 Hellerman Street.
Henry Clinton is the attorney.
Letter of non-opposition from Long Crest Community Association with a proviso.
Mr. Clinton is coming back as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Hi, Mr. Clinton, you were already sworn today.
Could just, for the record, could you just state your name?
Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N.
And could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
My client is Cedar Grove Christian Academy, and there's two representatives here.
The principal, Jeffrey Howard, H-O-W-A-R-D, and Paul White, W-O-I-T-E.
Okay, thank you.
and our vice chair has just a few questions for you sir good afternoon counselor do you agree to
weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to attack receive 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 yes except this afternoon we were able to finally get the tax
certification because of a glitch at the city's end.
Okay, no problem. Please proceed and share your screen.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board again. Henry Clinton for the applicant,
Cedar Grove Christian Academy. Cedar Grove Christian Academy has been educating the youth
of Philadelphia since 1968 and at this location since 2016. Basically elementary students. These
are my table of contents, exhibits A1 to A10, which I move into evidence, and I'll walk through
each document. So the refusal, we have six refusals, and I'd like to say the refusals to the
end, Mr. Chairman, because my presentation will be able to explain why our proposal will
necessitate the the alleviance of the onerous code in these six sections okay sure so as you
mentioned at the outset we do have a letter of non-opposition at a very heavily attended meeting
from the longcrest community association you can see there were 38 individuals in attendance and
We got a vote of 38 to 0, non-opposition.
There were some issues with regard to use of our proposal,
and our proposal is for a freestanding sign that's really replacing a...
for a freestanding sign that's really replacing a sign that's been at the corner of the intersection
of the Hellerman and Lawndale. And I'll show you this with aerial views. We're asking for an
electronic sign to keep up with the ages and to make the appearance more modern and to reach more
people. Basically, Long Crest Community Association was concerned about what type of sign this would
While it is illuminated, and it is called an animated sign, it's not going to have any cartoons, no scrolling, no ticker tape, no videos. It's basically letter imaging, letter messaging for people who may be interested in the school and or for community notifications.
So the community group asked us to limit the use of the sign from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
We had no problem with that and that the sign would be used by the community as an ad-needed basis.
Here are some of the points that were made during the meeting.
We did the presentation.
Jeffrey Howard, the principal, also spoke.
The sign is five feet by four feet on a six-foot pole, almost 10 feet in height.
But the top half of the sign is a permanent display.
Only the bottom half of the sign will have a variable display.
And there will be no moving displays are anticipated and no moving displays will be in use.
We also have a letter of support from the Lawndale Baptist Church, which is directly across the street and also has a similar sign as we do and got approval for that sign many years ago.
And I'll show you a photograph of that.
So I think the photographs really tell the whole story here. And I'm anticipating some comments by the Planning Commission, which I'm going to try to address now. So we have a number of streets here. We have Hellerman Street and we have Lawndale Avenue. And one of the refusals concerns the fact that, you know, it could be visible and potentially distracting to automobiles.
With that in mind, and knowing we are in a residential district, in fact, the school is an RSA 5 zoning district, across the street is RSA 5, and where the Baptist Church here, where my cursor is, is also RSA 5.
So knowing that traffic goes this way and this way on the intersecting streets, we didn't put our sign facing each street.
And as you'll see from other photographs that I'll show you, the sign is actually kind of a point of an arrow here so that we're really not in the line of distance or line of sight of passing motorists so as not to distract them.
The other issue is the planning code doesn't want illuminated signs to bother anybody in the residential area.
You'll see from other photographs that if the sign is on an angle, kind of the point of an arrow,
to the left, there's a rear of a building, and to the right would be the Baptist Church.
So we're really not affecting any residential areas.
This is the corner.
Right now, we have a freestanding sign.
the R sign, because we don't want it close to the corner. If we did, the sign would
expand over the fencing that's there. The fencing is roughly six feet high, so we have to have a
six-foot pole with the sign above the pole so that it's visible. One of the refusals is that we have
the sign within eight feet of the edge of the property. We really have to have it within eight
feet, because if we push it back any further, we would then be impacting the parking, and also this
is used by recreation for the students. This is the church, the Baptist church, that we received
a letter of support from. Again, this is directly across the street from the school, and it has a
freestanding sign, very similar to what we're requesting, where we're going to have a stationary
sign at the top, indicating the name of the school,
Cedar Grove Christian Academy, and at the bottom, we would have
the message lettering. Again, this is the school to the
right where my cursor is, and directly across the street in the line
of sight of the school would be the church. This is a closer view
of their sign. Right now, this is
our freestanding sign, which is already within the eight-foot setback. We're going to
basically remove this sign and hopefully install the new sign, which I will show you.
So the sign, again, is going to be at the top of this fence up to about the height of where
this sign is, and it will be looking toward the rear of this building across the street.
This building, the white building, doesn't face our school. It will not be impacted by this sign.
This building, the white building, doesn't face our school.
It will not be impacted by this sign.
These are just some photographs of the school itself and some of the notices that we have placed around the school.
So this is a site plan of where the sign will be located.
As I said at the outset, Mr. Chairman, the sign will be as a point of an arrow facing kind of the middle of the intersection.
the cursor is going in the direction of where the display will be
there's not even a building within eyesight of the site plan
and the other side of the sign will be towards where the
Baptist church is located. This is the actual
sign itself again the top half will be a static sign
to grow Christian Academy for more visibility within the community
and the bottom half will be where we will have our letter of messaging
The six foot height is to get us over the fence so that it's actually seen by people who are walking by.
Some more floor site plans.
It is an LED sign.
I wanted to go back now if I could, Mr. Chairman.
I know the hour is late, but at least I wanted to touch on the refusal.
I'll blow this up a little bit.
So basically, the first three refusals have to do with the illumination and the concern of the code that we're near an intersection of three streets, which we are, but we're not within the line of sight of passing vehicles, and the principal will be able to address that.
We're also not close by to any residential structures, and the one residential structure we are near is the rear of the structure and the first floor of that structure no one lives in.
The other refusals have to do with what I mentioned earlier, that the sign is going to be within the eight-foot setback.
And as I said, the reason for that is we want to make sure that we're not going to interfere with any parking within the school grounds or any of the recreational areas that the students use in that area.
The other refusal is with regard to the signage itself.
The code requires 15 square feet and this sign is 22 square feet.
But again, the animated portion of the sign is only half of that.
It's only 10 square feet, not 22 square feet, because the top portion of the sign is a static sign.
The last refusal has to do with the maximum height.
The sign is slightly over 10 feet, I think, by an inch or two.
And again, we need that because this fence is there at six feet, and to get the sign that's going to be visible and noteworthy to any passersby, we have to come up to about the 10 feet height, which is where the existing sign is.
so i do have one witness mr chairman if if he could adopt my testimony and also i would
ask the principal some questions and and perhaps he can explain uh more so than i the reasons why
the school needs this sign okay uh jeffrey howard can you unmute yourself
jeffrey howard please unmute yourself and wait for the chair
Hi, could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court stenographer?
Hi, this is Jeff Howard, J-E-F-F-H-O-W-A-R-D, Principal Cedar.
Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Good afternoon, Mr. Howard.
Yes. You were on the call and you heard my testimony, correct? Yes. And if you had the
opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Yes. I would add to that. We've been in that property since 1984 and in the area since 1968.
Okay. And you drew your students are drawn from this neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods,
correct? Yes. And the sign that we're proposing, I know the reasons why you want the sign. Can
you explain to the board why it's necessary to have this sign for the school? We have been in
the area for a long time, have a great relationship with people. Many have driven past our school
and did not even realize that we were a private organization, did not know what we were.
we feel like we owe it to our community and really want to reach out to our community to
let them know that we offer this service and we offer it quite well. And Mr. Howard, over the
course of years, the school has basically invited the community in for intramural sports. You've
basically invited the community in for intramural sports. You've used the school as a voting
use a school
location. You acted as a vaccination site for over 1,000 individuals in the neighborhood.
Would the sign be used for community engagements like that? Absolutely. We like to work with our
community and have them use our facility in a lot of different ways. We share with a number of the
local athletic groups as well as community groups and politicians, voting organization,
like you said, different things like that. And you were at the community meeting with me in front
of Lawn Crest Civics Association, correct? Yes, they were great. And you explained to them that
you would limit the hours of operation of the sign from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.? The sign is fully
programmable and dimmable, and we would have no problem with changing either the brightness of
the sign or off altogether. Right, and you agree that there's not going to be any cartoons or
scrolling or ticker tape or videos? Correct. And do you believe that this sign will assist in your
mission to help bring additional students to the school and help educate them in a Christian manner?
Very much so. We realize that signage is a great source of getting information out, and we hope to get something erected as soon as possible.
Now, just one question. You drive by this intersection, how many times over the course of your engagement with the school?
Oh, my goodness. I've been here since 1990, and I've driven by thousands of times, probably.
Okay. And as you approach this intersection, will the sign, as it's going to be located, interfere with the line of sight of any motorists?
No. And we agreed with the Longcrest community the same thing. They fully endorse it and don't feel like it'll be a problem.
Right. And you agree that we purposely designed the sign to be at an angle so that it's not funding on either Hellermann or Lawndale Avenue, correct?
That is correct. Yes.
Thank you, Mr. Howard.
I appreciate your testimony.
Mr. Chairman, with that, I'd just like to make a couple comments in closing.
We believe that this sign is going to be an added benefit to the school as well as to
the neighborhood.
We have a freestanding sign there right now.
It's not that visible because it's not illuminated.
We believe that the sign will draw additional students to the school.
We're not altering the essential character of the neighborhood because there's a digital
sign LED directly across the street from a supporter of this project, Lawndale Baptist Church.
And we believe that this sign is worthy of the board's approval. With that, I rest and ask that
my exhibits be admitted. Thank you. Your exhibits are admitted. Questions from the board? No,
Mr. Chairman. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hand. Excuse me, Cher. We have one hand up.
Joy, last name ending with N as in Nancy?
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
My name is Joy, J-O-Y-E. Nottage is my last name, N-O-T-T-A-G-E.
You're right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Absolutely.
Are you a neighbor?
I am a neighbor.
I live at 621 Robin Street.
You don't have to tell me where you live.
That's fine.
Proceed now.
Yes, I am.
My daughter also attended Cedar Grove and so on.
But I wanted to just say something in support of Cedar Grove.
When COVID came around, I worked with the Philadelphia Martin Luther King Jr. Association.
And we worked collaboratively.
they allowed us to use their bus. They actually helped us with bringing tons of food, hundreds
and thousands of loads of food here every single day for an entire summer for the community here
in the Lawndale area. And I wish they had had a sign then because we ended up having to go onto
the sidewalk and telling people that, you know, we have food for them for free, come and get food.
So I just wanted to add that there is so much that the school does for the community, and I can go on and on and on about what they've done for the community.
So I really endorse the sign.
Okay, so thank you very much.
We appreciate your input, and thanks for calling in.
We appreciate that.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David Fechtow with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
The appellant has shown that an identification sign within the required setback
The appellant has shown that an identification sign within the required setback is needed to ensure customers are able to identify the school.
However, the appellant has not shown that animation is necessary, nor has the appellant shown that an economic detriment will accrue if they are required to comply with the height and size requirements in the zoning code.
So the City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the proposal for a freestanding identification sign, but deny the proposed animation and height and use variances.
Thank you.
Mr. Clinton, if the board votes in favor of this, are you willing to accept the proviso of 7A to 9P?
Yes, absolutely.
Okay, thank you.
so m i m i 2023 002 695 600 hellerman i vote yes with proviso hours of illumination 7a to 9p
thomas holliman my vote is yes with proviso
So, Ishmael Shaheen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Counselor, you have your votes.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
We appreciate it.
Right.
Is there anyone in the audience whose 2 p.m. case has not been called?
I see no handshare.
Okay, so we're going to take a five-minute break, let our court reporter get straight,
and then what we're going to do is we're going to come back, and we only have, I think, three cases.
So let's see what we can get done.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We're ready to go when you are, Chair.
I'm ready.
thank you let's start recording the recordings in progress okay great thank you good afternoon
my name is bill bergman and i will be sharing this afternoon's 330 zba hearing
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
with me as our vice chair ismail shaheed present mr chairman
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holloman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And also, LeBaron Leonard Palmer from Development Services will be serving as our alternate Board Member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is our Attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkit.
be advised the proceedings are being recorded a video will be available by contacting tanya
sunkett at phila.gov for the benefit of our court stenographer we ask attorneys and witnesses to
identify themselves before testifying if you're participating by phone you wish to testify press
star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute to enter an appearance statement call 267-270-5548
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And lastly, the question and answer box is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
You're right with you.
Number three, MI 2022-007-577-3935 Ogden, Pace's Continued Attorney Moving Party.
Number four, MI-2022-005-968-5524-Pulaski.
This case is continued.
And number six, MI-2023-001-537-10829 Academy Road.
This is also continued.
Is there anyone have any questions about the three cases that we've just continued?
Afternoon, Chair. This is Fatina. I'll be your co-host.
I see no hands at this time.
Are there any other requests for continuances?
I see no hands at this time.
And I have one case that we do not have documents or exhibits, I'm sorry.
MI 2022-005-975, 2019 South 22nd Street.
Kimberly King is the owner applicant.
There are no exhibits.
This is the second listing, and no one appeared at the last listing.
I see no handshare.
All right, thank you.
So, number two, MI 2022-005-975, 2019 South 22nd Street.
This is the second listing. No one appeared at the first listing. We have no exhibits. I vote to dismiss.
Thomas Holloman, I vote to dismiss.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is to dismiss.
We're going to go to our first case.
MI 2023-001-549-1615 Brandywine Street.
Paul Enever is the owner applicant.
He's coming back in as a panelist, Chief.
Thank you.
Hello?
Sir, can you state your name, please, and spell it for the court stenographer?
Yes, this is Paul Ennever, P-A-U-L-E-N-E-V-E-R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Okay. So this is for partial demolition to remove an existing roof deck for the erection of an addition above an existing attached structure, including new roof decks, solar connectors, sive and location as shown in plans for an existing single family household.
living. Proposed solar collectors exceed the maximum permitted height above the roof surface
9 feet allowed, 13.6 proposed. The proposed structure exceeds the maximum permitted height
of the in the RM1 zoning district 38 feet whereas this will be 4511 proposed.
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you sir.
are you there yes can you hear me good afternoon 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 my architect frank cacos did so um with one exception uh
Yes, my architect, Frank Cacos, did so.
With one exception, Ms. Emerson asked for an updated plan reflecting the RCO feedback,
and we sent that in yesterday.
So I want to make sure you have that as well.
Hilary, did you receive that?
Yes, we did, Mr. Shahid.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Please proceed and share your screen, sir.
Great.
Thank you.
Can you see the screen?
We can.
Great.
So here's the index of summary of information submitted.
We obviously have the zoning refusal, an application, project information form, the deed.
I am not only the owner of the property, I'm actually the original owner of the property since it was constructed.
It was developed in 2006, even though we're in a historic district, it's not a historic property, provided the certificate of tax compliance, as well as the plans, some photos of the property, which I'll go through in a minute.
um we did have a meeting with the uh rco and spring garden uh back in uh june 5th and there's
a letter from them of support which i will talk about uh in a little bit as i mentioned there
were some minor changes to the plans which we have incorporated uh based upon their feedback and um
uh then there's a few other uh things and we have letters of support from uh both the uh
adjacent properties as well as some other near neighbors all right um let me just um perhaps the
easiest way to go about this is just to give you a couple uh to talk through the project um by look
referring to a couple of the photos um why don't you do that why don't you tell us what you want
to do and how are you going to do it so this is the front of the property on brandywine street
the one in the middle here is 1615 which is my uh property and if you see here uh if we go up to
the roof deck um so this is the the current pilot house of the roof deck and basically want to do
three things so first of all we want to extend this pilot house across the full width uh here
to create spent a spit uh basically a small um room or living space so this area where uh this
again, sort of small deck spaces, turn that into a small living space, which would be used as
basically a home office as the primary use. And then in addition to that, what you can see here
is this front deck would just be replaced as part of the work. And you can sort of see the views
here. And then what would happen is at the back, which is currently unused space, that would add
Add a deck at the back. And then the second piece of the work at the back would be to add solar panels.
And the way we would go about doing that is putting a solar support structure, a solar canopy that would allow us to elevate the solar panels up to the level of the same height as this pilot house,
which would now extend across, you know, the height of that roof would now extend across basically the full width of the house.
The goal here is really to take advantage, as I said, of this unused space.
This is the northern side of the house.
So it's the back. Because it's north facing, there is an issue with if we were just to have the solar panels laying on the roof here, at certain times of the day, there would be a lot of shading from the pilot house itself, even as it is currently structured.
So we do need to elevate them to some extent, which we could do, obviously, under the current code up to nine feet.
But in order to be able to take the full advantage and to get maximum solar generation, we want to be able to elevate them all the way to basically to the top height here.
And we also want to, as I said, take advantage of being able to sort of build the deck underneath to create sort of this additional open space, since we'll be losing some of this deck space here and extending the room across.
We think that we should be able to re-estimate that by including the solar panel canopy across this backspace, in addition to putting some solar panels on the small roof area around the pilot house, we should be able to offset about 50% to 60% of the total electricity need of the home, which should make the project worthwhile doing from an economic standpoint.
The two variances that we would need in order to complete this are, first of all, in extending this across the.
First of all, in extending this across the pilot house across to make this a room, we would need a height variance because we're exceeding the height limit for this zoning district.
um we're currently um and as you'll see in the um the actual uh
sorry if i go to the actual zoning uh refusal itself
is that 45 feet yeah it should be you would you would probably should be a 38 right yeah 38 exactly
you've got it you know better than i do um i just read and then the last piece uh with respect to
the solar collectors this gets into the discussion that we had with the rco so the original plans
that we had um proposed were to have this uh structure slanted to take advantage of um uh you
know an angle to get more of the sunlight because the sun obviously here would be in the southern
in the sky what we agreed with the rco um was to just make this flat um and we think that that will
still work would be sufficient energy generation it was their preference to have the uh to have
the solar panels flat basically across the top so that's what we've agreed with them and that was
essentially the key change that they requested so this is the revised plan i'm happy to answer
any questions but that's sort of it in a nutshell um no i i think we understand what you're trying
to do um questions from the board okay no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual
audience chair we have justino navarro okay
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer yes my name is justino
Navarro, J-U-S-C-I-N-O, N-A-V-A-R-R-O, representing the Spring Garden Civic Association
and the Sony Committee. All right, do you swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? I sure do. Please proceed, sir. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the
board. We've met with, in fact, with Paul and his architect, and we, subsequent to our meeting on
June 5th, we reached an agreement with the property owner. And in fact, a CBA was executed
yesterday afternoon, of which a hard copy has been provided to Mr. Enver. We also, the key
takeaway here is that the architect and the owner graciously agreed with recommendations
of the zoning committee that the height of the solar structure will not exceed 12 feet.
So we're grateful that the property owner has agreed with us.
And we would suggest and encourage the board and the chair, of course, to approve the plans
as presented.
And Mr. Edinburgh, if we can get a copy of the most recent plans reflecting the RCO's
recommendations, that would be terrific.
but that I will terminate my testimony.
Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to call in.
We appreciate your input.
Is there anyone else in the first audience?
I see no handshare.
Any commission?
This is Ron Bednar, city planning.
First name Ron, R-O-N, last name Bednar, B-E-D-N-A-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
This property is indicated for residential use
on the city plan based on the revised plans we have no objection to the granting of the parents
thank you mi 2023 001 549 1615 brandywine street i vote yes with proviso revised plans
one-paged stamp izba september 27 2023
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, sir. You have your votes.
Ishmael, could you take over, please?
Sure. Number seven, MI2023-001539-2306,
North 21st Street
Vito Canuso
is the attorney
Mr. Canuso is coming back in
and is a panelist
please state your name and spell it for the record veto v-i-t-o can you so c-a-n-u-s-o
good afternoon members of the uh zoning board
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do what is the uh can you give us the
connection to your client and the project please i am the attorney for cmgt llc the owner of the
property located at 2306 north 21st street which currently is a vacant lot understood uh do you
do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed
in all the required documents and exhibits that are needed and required to receive this case
five days in advance of this hearing. The required documents have been submitted. I believe that
there was a late submission of today of the tax clearance. Yes, we believe we have everything.
Please proceed and share your screen. If I may, I represent the property owners of this vacant lot,
which they are requesting approval for a two-family residential structure to be constructed.
Counsel, can you share your screen, please?
You can go ahead and share your screen.
These are the pictures of the...
And so you're not sharing your screen. You will just have to hit this green share screen button at the bottom of your screen.
Thank you. Make sure you have your documents open.
After you hit that button, it will ask you what screen you would like to share.
Just make sure your documents open and click on your documents and just hit share.
Can you see them now?
Nothing yet.
Do you see the green button at the bottom?
I thought I had to push that.
Let me make sure I get back to that, please.
Okay, we see it now.
Okay, thank you.
All right.
Unfortunately, my screen, it came out blue, but I appreciate your instructions.
As I started, this is a property vacant lot on the 2300 block of North 21st Street.
You can see various pictures of the vacant lot and the adjoining area, which on that block, only the next door, the one structure you see there is the only structure on the street.
on the street. And that's an abandoned building that is unoccupied and does not look like it's
in very great shape. But what we're proposing on the adjoining vacant lot is a three-story
structure with a lower level, which would be a living area for this structure.
There would be two units in the building. The lower unit would consist of the lower level having a living area, and to the rear of outside would be a courtyard patio to give the owners or the occupants access to the outside from both the front and the rear of the building.
The second level, and I can show you, go to the, there's.
I'll show you, go to the, there's the refusal. Next is the application for the, for the, and then this is the picture of the joining area.
If I can go to the drawings, you'll see that the first level will or basement level would consist of a bedroom and a bath and an adjoining room, which could be used either as a office or another bedroom.
The second level, which would be part of the lower unit, would consist of a bedroom, living area, and kitchen.
The top unit would consist of the second and third floors, which would have access to the roof deck, which is proposed.
the uh second top unit would have a living area kitchen with bath on the second level
and on the third level it would be a i'm sorry the bed it would only be a powder room or a
half bath on this on the second level third level would have two bedrooms and a full bath
Each of these units would be approximately 1,200 square foot of living area for the occupants.
We have also show you the front and rear of the renderings provided by the architect, which show access from the first and lower level to the courtyard patio.
The top roof will have a top unit will have a roof deck, which would be accessed through a pilot house on the roof.
I'd like to go back to the RCO meeting summary.
And as you can see, there was no members of the community were present.
Um, and however, the, uh, the RCO, which is the, um, all in the family, uh, RCDC wrote a letter, which had some, uh, comments, though they approve of the use of this property as a duplex to family residents.
They had some objections to the appearance of the property.
Their comments were that they would like to have the building align with the character of the community.
I question that because there is no, other than the one abandoned building, which if anyone was going to develop it, in my opinion, would most likely be demolished.
The rest of the block is all vacant lots.
The other thing is they oppose the interior design and layout.
Now, they have no objection to a duplex, but they would like the basement area to be used
for utilities and those kinds of purposes rather than living area.
Unfortunately, that would diminish the amount of square footage each of the residents would
have to occupy, and also would have an impact on the access to the rear yard or courtyard
for the lower unit occupant.
The other request addresses trash maintenance for the tenants.
We are willing to have some type of proviso for trash maintenance.
However, we believe that the trash would be best managed with the lower unit having access to the rear courtyard to store trash and the upper unit having access to the roof.
And the upper unit having access to the roof deck, which, again, would provide an outdoor access for storage of trash for that occupant of the upper unit.
The other questions that were raised at the meeting by the, I believe it was the executive director, as I said, there was no community members present, or at least they'd ever identified any community members.
Whereas addressing the cost and or the amount of rent that would be charged, unfortunately, we were not able to give a specific amount of rent because of the rent is going to be based on the cost of the construction.
And I just would like to note that I just had the opportunity to participate at a common police court trial involving construction, and three experts testified that the cost of construction in the past two years has raised as much as 30% for the cost of construction.
And that's why we're unable to identify at this time what the rent would be for the occupants of these two units.
And I can appreciate the community wanting to know that, but we are just not in the ability to calculate what we would have to charge rent once the construction has been completed.
It's just not possible at this time.
And like I said, the other proviso was that they wanted to provide for the basement to be used solely for utilities and washers and dryers.
If you look at the plans, the architect has designed the property to have those types of facilities within each unit and not utilize just the basement for the providing of the utilities and washers and dryers to each unit.
I would just like to say that I believe that the managing member of the LLC, which is CMGT LLC, is present, and I would like to have her identified and provided so she can adopt my testimony.
Sure. Let's get your client on.
Her name is Ellie Woods.
Can we promote her, please?
Ms. Woods, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Ellie Woods, you're free to speak.
Please unmute yourself.
Hello.
Hello, ma'am.
Can you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Yes, my name is Ellie Woods, E-L-L-E, last name is W-O-O-D-S.
You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Ms. Woods, are you the managing member of the CMGT LLC, the property owner of 2306 North 21st Street?
Yes, I am.
And did you hear my comments and testimony presented to the board today?
Yes, I did.
And would you adopt that testimony as truthful, accurate, and would be your own testimony if you were to provide that to the board today?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
no mr jim uh i do have one question so on the uh second the second unit is there an emergency
exit um uh for the property only to the roof so the mercy exit only to the roof
I believe that there were discussions and plans to have some type of a collapsible ladder to exit the building.
That was one of the possibilities.
But of course, they have the front entrance, separate front entrance.
But, of course, they have the front entrance, separate front entrance, but the only other exit from that second level unit, second and third level unit, would be to the roof deck.
Understood.
Questions from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, we have Odessa Tate.
Please, promoter.
Hello, am I audible? Can you guys hear me?
hey please state your name and spell it for the court reporter please my name is Odessa Tate
O-D-E-S-S-A last name T-A-T-E thank you do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth I do proceed okay so all in a family will support the two family dwelling if
and only if the structure is built according to the pre-existing fabric of the said block
and community. The three-story landscape yields a partial third story that does not extend the
full length of the building. With this build, it's important to note when we say what's next
door, but what's also in the other adjoining blocks. This is just 100 of the blocks. So the
consistency and the fabric of the community is what's made is what I just explained. And if you
have a bill like this on the one block with the hopes of the building next door being demolished,
it sets the precedent for other bills as such on the block and we don't want that.
So initially when I asked what the rental would be for the two units, the response was
undetermined because they have not received all the construction costs. So the rents are based
on the construction cost of an elaborate build that is a rarity based on the existing architecture.
The build presented is more immense than cost based on overall rehab. Ms. L, the owner, later
made clear in the meeting that she wants affordable housing for the community. She mentioned that a
single-family build did not fit into the realm of affordability. However, dividing the units into
two, would achieve the aim of affordability and sit in the range of people's budgets.
She also mentioned that the planning of construction from materials to the build are part of the
goal for affordable housing.
Lastly, she knows that in Philadelphia, the starting point is maybe $1,800 for rent.
She and the owners of the LLC are shooting for $1,500 to $1,600 to make the rentals as
affordable as can be made.
So again, I insist that the bill match the existing fabric of the community. And most importantly, the space can be better utilized to promote affordability. The first floor is one unit, no basement living, but storage is allowed. And the second and third stories combined for two units, which is something that is being done in the community that we will look at as acceptable.
But according to affordability measures for the 19132 area and as per PHA, for one bedroom is $935, for two bedrooms is $1,133, and for three bedrooms is $1,375.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for your testimony.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no handshare.
this planning commission Ron Bednar city planning property is indicated for residential use on the
city plan or adopted district plan recommends no change to the existing single family zoning at
this location the applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique physical
circumstances or condition of the property that would prevent it from being used in
conformity with the use requirements of the code therefore we recommend the request variance not
be granted.
Counselor, do you want to say anything to that?
I just wanted to move into the record, the exhibits, the documents that were addressed
in the presentation.
Understood.
MI-2023-001539, 2306 North 21st Street, my vote is no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
LaBaron Leonard Palmer, my vote is no.
Thank you.
MI-2023-001538, 4210 Medellin Street, Vern Anastasia.
4210 Medellin Street, Vern Anastagio.
Vern Anastagio is coming back in as a public panelist.
This is a refusal for two family household living is prohibited in a RAS-3 zoning district.
did they receive a letter of non-opposition from the
Holmesburg Civic Association?
Are you there? Yes, Mr. Shahid. Good evening.
Good evening. Can you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Yes, sir. Vern Anastasio, V-E-R-N, last name
A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, 2016
Spruce, Philadelphia, 19103.
Do you agree to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Can you please state your client and your relationship to me?
Ivy Zhao is my client.
She is the representative agent for the property in question.
Thank you.
You swear to tell...
I've got a little tongue-tied.
I've got to switch gears here.
It's okay.
Do you swear to tell the – I swear. I swear.
All right. Have you emailed all the required documents in five days in advance before this hearing?
Yes, sir.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
4210 Meridian proposed use is the two-family dwelling.
Basically, we're just legalizing a preexisting nonconforming use.
we have submitting today is the interior layout and photos both exterior and interior as you can
see these are listing photos and they are photos of the two units in addition to the two units
we have two electric meters uh here's proof of posting the deed you've already received a letter
of non-opposition from the community uh everyone knows in this neighborhood that this property has
been a two-family dwelling for quite a long time if you look at the history 19 you know 49 36
and uh additionally here uh two-family dwelling uh it's known use of the property
and it's been a two-family dwelling for quite a long time i think what happened here was a
rental license wasn't kept up as a result underlying rsa3 category kicked in my client
purchased the property as it presented itself as a two-family and would like to get the uh
the rental license for two families so that he and they can ensure that good folks stay in the
property and they have the ability to evict if things don't go their way. Without the zoning
variance, they can't get the two-family rental license and they won't be able to ensure that the
occupants of the property care for the property and respect the community. As a result, the
community has, I'm not going to bring it up here, although I have it handy, has submitted a letter
of non-opposition for the legalization of the pre-existing two-family dwelling. And given the
history, I respectfully request the granting of the variance. With that, I'm asking if Ms.
Zhao is available to raise their hand and be sworn in to adopt my testimony.
Can you please promote her, please?
I'm checking for her now.
Currently, no hands are raised.
Ms. Zal, please raise your virtual hand.
There is a language barrier, Mr. Chair, so that may be an issue.
Understood.
Yeah, there's no means at this time, Chair.
uh your officer of the court we we can take yours thank you uh questions my client moves of my
client moves my presentation as their own testimony into evidence as well as the exhibits thank you
counselor questions from the board no mr chairman the baron
no mr chairman questions from the virtual audience
no mr chairman questions from the virtual audience
mr chair this is hillary i just have a quick question um mr anastasio this property zoned
rsa3 which would require two parking spaces i know that that was not indicated in the refusal
but in looking at the photos it appears there is already one there is a garage space in the rear
am i correct about that but there would still need to be a variance for a second parking space
there is uh there is uh accessory parking you know attached to you know uh regarding the uh
garage and so yeah there is existing parking and there are no refusals generated as a result of
parking okay because it should if there was parking on the premises it should have been
noted on the refusal because it is a requirement of the rsa3 zoning um and if if if your contention
is that there are two spaces there then that would need to be documented with l and i because
all that we can okay so there's just one space with the garage yeah i'm not i'm not uh
i'm not asserting anything other than we applied for a two-family dwelling dwelling with all
existing um uh matters already under you know under consideration so as a result
uh whatever there happens to be uh before our application i mean there is i'm not gonna
say affirmatively or otherwise uh with regard to the parking other than there's there's one
there's a one car garage and that's that's what we okay well that's yeah so that's yeah so we know
So, basically, if the board grants this, they would also need to indicate that there's a variance granted for an additional parking space.
This was a use refusal, so there wasn't plans submitted, but there still should have been documentation of the existing space since parking is required in the RSA 3 zoning district.
Yeah, no such documentation was required by L&I.
Yes. Okay. Thank you, Vern.
Thank you.
So, Vern, outside of the actual garage, there's no parking in the rear of the property.
That's correct.
Understood.
Any questions from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
So, no hands.
Planning Commission?
Ryan Bednar, City Planning.
The property is indicated for residential use on the city plan.
in the documented use or site use history.
We have no objection to the granting of the variance.
Now, Hillary, you said you want to add a proviso in there?
Yes, Mr. Shahid.
I think we should note for the record
that this approval includes approval for variance
for one additional parking space.
That would be required.
understood uh i don't mind you guys doing that uh respectfully i'm just not quite sure if that
holds because the would that would that hold since the application didn't include any parking
so the application should have noted the existing parking they think the examiner missed the fact
that parking is required and they should have asked if there was parking and if there was none
it should have said none on the refusal. Unfortunately, this is at least the second
time this has happened today. And I've discussed this with L and I, and this is how we've handled
it, is to make sure that the parking that is there is documented. And if there is not sufficient
to meet the code requirements, that the board is also granting a variance for those additional
parking spaces that are not provided. And L and I will process the permit as voted. Is that correct?
That is correct.
Thank you.
All good?
Yes, sir.
MI-2023-0015384210 Marina Street.
my vote is yes with proviso with a adding a variance to approve a second uh parking space
with my vote
thomas holliman my vote is yes with proviso
libera leonard palmer my vote is yes with proviso thank you all thank you council
Is there anyone out in the virtual audience
case has not been heard?
I see no hands, Chair.
Good job, Ismael.
Good job, Ismael.
I'm trying.
I'm trying.
Good job.
Thank you all.
Had a good day.
Thank you.