with Morgan Lewis.
CCRA was not able to consider that request at the November meeting, and we did notify
them that we would be requesting that the 7 p.m. proviso not be imposed on the grant
of our special exception.
uh i'll note briefly that pennsylvania law is clear that the at the imposition of conditions
on the grant of a special exception must find support in the record in order to warrant their
imposition um our again our application is proposing to use two outdoor areas as roof decks
on a 19-story office building in the cmx 5 district this is not a bar this is not a restaurant
This isn't a law firm, it's an international law firm that would have lawyers there working
well after 7 p.m. In terms of the grant of a special exception, we meet the test
for the grant of a special exception as set forth in section 14.303.78
without the imposition of any proviso and we would respectfully urge the board to grant our special
exception without proviso, but if the board is inclined to grant the special exception,
only if it is subject to a proviso we would request that the board adopt the proviso that's
consistent with the cva and with our lease with morgan and we had sent that language into the
board but i'll read it that the use of the bow keys and roof decks be limited to use as accessory
to business and professional office purposes and not for any purpose which constitutes
a nuisance under applicable philadelphia law or code um again we think that whatever concern may
be generated by the 7 p.m. proviso would be covered in that covenant and I remind the board that we
also have the an unconditional letter of support from CCR from the 238 condominium building to our
south. That does conclude my testimony. I do thank the board for its time. I do have two witnesses
that I'd like to ask to come off mute and affirm my testimony.
Could I please ask Mr. Wale Mambukunj of Parkway Corporation to raise his hand?
You can unmute.
Good evening, everyone.
Good evening, sir.
Please identify yourself with a record first and last name.
Certainly.
My name is Wale Mapuganji.
First name W.
A is in Albert.
L is in Larry.
E is in Edward.
Last name M is in Mary.
A is in Albert.
B is in Boy.
O is in Orange.
G is in Gun.
U is in Umbrella.
N is in Nancy.
J is in Juice.
E is in Egg.
Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. Karolish.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Wale, could you just take for the record your title at Parkway Corporation and your professional address?
Certainly. My title is Vice President and Project Executive for Real Estate and Development at Parkway Corporation.
Address is 150 North Broad Street, Philadelphia.
you and and while did you hear my presentation to the board just just a few minutes ago yes i did
and would you adopt and affirm that testimony as if it were your own testimony yes could i
mr chairman could i please ask um mr alexander clore of gensler to raise his hand so he can come
off mute yes good evening good evening please identify yourself first and last name please
Alex Klohr, K-L-O-H-R.
So you swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, Mr. Kirlis.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Alex, are you familiar with the criteria for the grant of a special exception on the Philadelphia Zoning Code?
And in your professional opinion, do we meet the criteria for the grant of a special exception?
And did you hear my presentation of the board?
I did.
And would you adopt and affirm that testimony
as if they're your own testimony?
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I have nothing further for the board tonight.
Any questions from the board?
Anyone else would like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
No further hands at this time, Mr. Chair.
No further hands at this time, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Jason.
Jason, Planning Commission?
Plenty.
This is Mason Austin representing the Planning Commission.
Mr. Chair and members of the Board, the lot is designated for commercial,
core commercial mixed use in the comprehensive plan and is zoned for that use.
Because the lot is located in a major commercial district,
staff of the Planning Commission have no opposition to the granting of the special exception.
Thank you very much.
mi2020-0017672222 market street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
no proviso
okay thank you very much with proviso no proviso that was not i just wanted to clarify
I'm sorry, nobifies.
Right, thank you.
All right, MI2020-001833, and I believe that's 2225 North 8th Street.
And Mr. Jinn, is this connected to the 7th Street project as well?
Yes, it is in a way, the same owners, so we can proceed with both.
because we had a workout in agreement with the council office.
All right. MI 2020-001832, 2215 North 7th Street.
You've already been sworn in.
Just please identify yourself with the record.
Thank you.
Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N-J-I-N, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard,
Suite 1838, Philadelphia PA 19103.
Here on behalf of the applicant.
Thank you, Mr. Jin.
Please proceed with your testimony.
Thank you.
We have some questions. I forgot. So used to Carol. I apologize.
No problem. Do you agree to wave and step? I do.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet and the required documents, including proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, and photos and or plans of the
property five days in advance of the hearing? I did. Also, have you met with the RCO and do you
have a letter? We do. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Please proceed. Thank you. I'm going to go ahead
and share with the board the information relating to this case. My apologies. I'm trying to
let me make sure I'm providing the 8th street, yes okay. So this is the application on 8th street
which is the first of the matter. They're related in overall request but they're a little different
in size and location. The 8th street property is one that is in a CMX2 zone district much like the
7th Street property we did earlier. What it is is that these properties are kind of sandwiched
among residential properties, and it is zoned CMX2, but there's no real commercial activity on these
blocks. And even though the lot itself right now looks like it could be used for some commercial
purpose, the reality is most of this block is residential. When we met with the community group,
it is at the same meeting that we had two other properties with, the neighborhood overwhelmingly
supported the idea of keeping it just a residential property. As such, our request essentially is to
place a residential building as a multifamily unit, converting what would have been required
first floor commercial to an additional residential unit. As you can see, the building
would be three-story. It would be built to a similar height as to what is existing in the
neighborhood. The property itself would be divided into each floor being one unit. I'm going to zoom
in a little bit to make it easier for the board to see. Again, leaving an open family exercise
area in the basement for the first floor unit. Dining and bedroom. We have on the upper floors
two bedrooms or a study room and a bedroom depending on how the ultimately the individuals
who's using the property would like to use it. There is a roof deck also on the third floor.
This property does have a rear yard. It is not a corner property but right as of right now the
property has vacant lots next to it. The management of the trash would be the roof deck would be up
to replace some of the trash.
First floor would have the rear yard access.
And in the case of the second floor unit, I believe we put in a specific trash room for that unit within the unit until trash is ready to be taken out.
And in the case of the second floor unit,
I believe we put in a...
So given that situation, we did receive support from the community on this request.
Now, I want to go ahead and share the other property and explain to the board what we had done with that one, because it relates back to the council office's non-opposition to our proposal for a complete residential property on this particular address.
So what I'm doing now is I'm sharing the information from the other case, 2215 to 19 North 7th Street.
I'm going to show the refusal which is based on the number of units based on the lot size as well
as the commercial now this what this is it's a subdivision in a sense a consolidation of three
lots each CMX2 each would have by right been at least three units plus the commercial what my
client is doing he's combining these into one because he is doing this even though we received
support from the community for full residential use of a total of 12 units the council office
asked that we work with them and place at least a commercial unit into the space because it is
closer towards the germantown avenue side and the hope is that with all these additional multi
families coming into place that this commercial unit would be viable in the future because the
negotiations kind of lasted until late this morning. What we have agreed to do is to maintain
a request for 12 residential units, but with the understanding that this unit here, which
was originally on the plan as a residential unit, would be converted to a first floor
commercial space. It's approximately 684.8 square foot on the ground level, and then
it has its own associated lower level. By doing this what we would like to do is either have
a one-page supplemental plan submitted to the board to be stamped or if this can be done in
some way as a proviso based on the location and size of the unit either one would be acceptable
to my client and myself depending on which way the board wish to proceed with this matter. But
By doing this, what we're doing is we're giving the,
because the council office request
is some kind of commercial space
that is not necessarily a huge space,
but enough to be used in this building to be provided.
We are providing that as a way to meet their requirements
while still keeping with the overall design of the project.
This particular project have more units.
However, everyone has access to the rear yard
and the stairwells inside also all leads to the top level.
There are actually trash rooms,
also small trash rooms placed within each unit.
And these are basically all two bedroom units
that are designed within this space.
So with the commercial unit coming in,
we may have to slightly relay out the floor plan
on some of the upper floors,
maybe reducing them to one bedroom unit
and moving one unit up there
while providing a commercial space on the first floor.
So I wanted to explain that to the board
as part of this application.
It's part of the reason the council office
also does not object to the 8th Street
being a completely residential property.
I'm sorry, I'm not hearing.
The commercial, can you hear me?
Yes, I can now.
The commercial component that you're showing here in yellow.
What address is that attributed to?
22 what?
So here's the issue.
This is a consolidation request.
So in order for us to really clarify this with L&I later,
after if we go for building permit,
we probably would want some kind of marking on the plan
to say that's the commercial space.
This is currently unit four on the residential plan
that we agreed to convert to a commercial use.
So, Sharon, maybe you can help me, what is your special language that we would need to make certain that if we approve this plan, that the commercial component, I mean, it's going to probably require a revised plan, no?
I think, Mr. Jin, you even said that you may change some of the apartments to one bedroom as opposed to two.
So I think the main floor, the only floor that's being affected by this change would be the first floor.
So if we were to do a plan, we would probably just mark, make sure this is marked completely
If we were to do a plan, we would probably just make sure this is marked.