Sorry, he's coming in now as a panelist.
All right.
Thank you.
Good morning.
Sorry about that.
Good morning, Mr. Mattione.
Can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name, please?
Sure. It's Michael Matteoni, M-A-T-T-I-O-N-I, Federal Reserve Bank Building, 100 North Independence Mall, Suite 5A Northwest, Philadelphia, 19106.
And do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
And have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal
referral, photos, plans, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the
RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, everything.
Thank you.
You may proceed.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And I have Joseph Byrne, the owner's representative, with me as well.
This is, in many ways, a simple case.
We're requesting to have 30 units in the building that presently exists.
There will be no new construction, but it is legal for 24.
And I'm just going by our tax certificate and the refusal.
There's no new construction or anything in this building, but there are six units in the building that were built and were not legal.
And we would like to legalize the units.
We've met with the RCOs.
We've met with four RCOs, four separate RCOs.
Three of the RCOs, Map Holistic, Friends of the 47th Ward, and Community Land Trust, and they're the nearest in location to the property.
They all support the granting of the variance.
Beach Interplex sent in a letter saying that they oppose the variance, but they're also the farthest RCO from the property.
The elder, Mr. Byrne, can speak to this a little bit as well.
And I believe that Vivian Van Story from Community Land Trust and Reverend Nash, I know he's on, are both on and willing to talk about why they support this application.
This application, again, the owner is very active in the community, and if they have the six extra units, it will give them additional funds that they will then use to benefit the community.
They are very active in the community.
They work very hard in the community.
And this property was acquired by them, and it has, again, that's the opposition letter from Beach.
It has six extra units.
I just wanted to show some quick photos of it and then
that's the building it's been there for a long time down the street at 1431
north 15th street the exact same building that's legal for 28 units exact same building exact same
footprint everything so when we met with the three nearest rcos map holistic friends of the 47th
ward and community land trust they were all in strong support of this because they understand
that the six additional units would give additional funds to allow this owner to give back to the community.
They are very active in the community, and they fully support it for that reason.
The alternative would be to have just larger units in the building, which the developer would do if this were denied.
But again, the larger units are not as desirable.
They have higher rents, and they leave the larger groups of students, which is mainly student housing, living together.
and that has undesirable impacts of more likely for parties and things along those lines.
The smaller units, just some additional photos of the building, the smaller units
are much more desirable for that reason.
So if I could bring on Mr. Byrne, if he could be unmuted.
He just has to raise his hand first.
Here it goes.
you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in yes good morning sir please identify yourself
for the record spell your name and that's where you win good morning chair uh joseph byrne b-y-r-n-e
my address is 1516 north 5th street philadelphia pa 19122 swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you, Mr. Mattione. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Mr. Mattione. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Joe, did you hear my statements?
Joe, did you hear my statements?
I did. And are they true and correct? They are. And do you adopt them as your testimony? I do.
And do you have some any further comments for the board regarding you know why these six units
legalizing and what benefits it gives to the community and how you work with the community
regarding this property? Sure. So as Mr. Manionio mentioned, we were the original
developer in 1431 North 15th Street, which is on the same block. This entire block on all four
sides is 100% student housing. The sister building, 1431, is on the exact same footprint on the same
block and we applied and received approval for the 28 units several years back. We were denied
by the same board for this application and weren't really provided a reason why. It's the same size
parcel on the same block with community support with the same architect and they basically just
told us that they didn't feel like approving it at that time. So we amended the application,
built the building and we had to do something obviously towards aware to change the application
to move forward with the project, which we did. And I'd like to mention the fact that these units
are not occupied, they're vacant. So what we're looking to do is, again, legalize the units that
are there. We can offer these units at a lower rental rate and make them more affordable for
for the residents in the area and basically that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Do you have any
other witnesses Mr. Manione? Well I believe Reverend Lewis Nash and Vivian Van Story both
want to testify they are from the two RCOs in the area that support the project. Okay if you can get
them on and give us a brief presentation that would be helpful. Certainly. We do Reverend Nash
first. Yeah, Reverend Nash is available. Good morning, Reverend. Please identify yourself again
for the record. Good morning. My name is Reverend Lewis Nash, Sr. And Reverend, do you swear or
for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do affirm thank you
mr matty over reverend we met with you on this project correct uh 1407
and you sent in a letter of support for this project yes i did and why are you in support
of this project reverend i concur with the testimony that you gave and we would be pleased
to support it because he is supportive to our community and we don't want someone to uh that
made an investment in our community to lose out as well we appreciate the investment i have nothing
further for robert nash mr chairman thank you any questions for this witness no no thank you
Anyone else, Mr. Mattione?
Vivian Van Story from Community Land Trust.
She's available.
She just needs to unmute herself and wait to be sworn in.
Hello.
Good morning, everyone.
Good morning, ma'am.
Please identify yourself with the records.
Spell your name.
Excuse me.
My name is Vivian Van Story.
I'm president of Community Land Trust, a housing development organization,
a certified CHOTO for the city of Philadelphia.
Would you please spell your last name?
v-a-n-s-t-o-r-y it's one named van story thank you and you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth yes thank you mr medione thank you mr chairman and uh
miss van story um we met with you correct regarding this property in the application
pending before the board yes and you uh were satisfied with the application yes at first
I was with Beach also. And when it happened, we didn't understand the whole thing and who he was
once I found out and then how he has contributed to the community in the past. And going forward,
he is going to help us with some environmental education starting there to preserve the quality
of life for the community. And on that end of where he has his buildings, we've always
had multi-purpose buildings there. I mean, you know, not single family, but it was always
structures and they were always, but six, we allow him to stay with the six and maybe he'll
and maybe he'll help us with things going forward with the environment, the trash, quality of life.
help us with things going forward with the environment to try.
So when I, Mr. Nash had hosted the meeting, I went there too because I go back and forth
and I met with him and I, you know, we worked, he said he would work with the community and plus
it, he hasn't done a bad job in the past. So the Community Land Trust Corporation
uh support his endeavors thank you thank you thank you do you have anyone else
i have no further questions and i have no further um witnesses mr chairman thank you
questions from the board no no i gotta have myself is there anyone else who would like to testify in
this case don't use it this time chair thank you uh planning planning commission
sorry about that um this is greg waldman planning commission staff this property is indicated for
multi-family residential use on the comprehensive plan a total total of 14 units will you
be permitted by right for this lot size and zoning district. We believe that existing 24 units is an
overuse for the size of the lot and an additional six units would great in that non-conformity.
Accordingly, we recommend that the requested variance not be granted.
I get what you're saying, but if they made those units bigger, you're still going to have the same
number of maybe an increase in the number of people occupying that building. All right,
MI 2020-001302, 1407-09 North 15th Street. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Calendar number 0457, 1428 South 23rd Street.
hi this is jared um i'm trying to share my screen yeah give me one second mister
this is sharon saletta the property owner's name is jared beaujoli
and i believe he's appearing pro se
okay name and address for the record sir and can you spell your last name
he's coming back in as a panelist thank you
okay jared are you available open your mic and video
Oh, okay. Perfect. Hi, Jared. Can you spell your last name and give us your entire name
and address for the record? Yes. So it is Jared Borgeli. The last name is B-O-U-R-J-O-L-L-Y.
And my address is 2213 Reed Street, Philadelphia, PA. And can you guys also see my screen that
i'm sharing right now not yet but do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing about
the truth i do are you an attorney no i'm actually representing myself on this one okay um let me
see something i'm trying to share the screen have you emailed the exhibit with the required
documents which would be proof of ownership tax compliance refusal referral photos and plans of
the property five five years five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco
and do you have a letter yes i have okay thank you you may proceed okay i'm just trying to get
my screen you guys can't see it yet correct no jared do you have your documents open on your
computer are you using the computer okay so now now that your documents open click on the share
screen at the bottom of the zoom okay and then i'm clicking share and then click your documents
and they will open up for all of us to view okay so i click share and then it says open system
security okay i think i have to do some security stuff really quick hold on let's solve it all
All right, here we go.
Okay. And then let me try that again. Okay. And can you guys see it now?
Yes, you're right.
Okay. Sorry about that. Thank you for today. So the refusal for this project is I'm seeking
to do a duplex in a RSA 5 district. This is a property which my father and I own in our personal
names and I plan to reside in and my sister as well in the other unit. So I'm going to walk
through my exhibit and I also wanted to state before I got started that I have full support
from the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition and also the zoning committee and
the community itself supports this project. So in my exhibit, I will go down the documents. You can
see the refusal, and this is for the two-family dwelling in an RSA 5 district. And then the next
document, I have some photos of nearby properties. This is the lot which the property would sit on.
This is a new construction next to it, and then this is a property that's being rehabbed as well.
the parcel that we are planning to build would be exactly the same height as this neighboring
property so it wouldn't be any bigger and then I have some additional photos of nearby properties
and then you can see that's across the street from the property this is also across the street
from the property and this is the corner adjacent to the property this is the support from the
community, the Point Breeze Community Coalition. They were all in support of the project. I didn't
have anybody opposed of this. The community itself supported the project. Some of the
provisors, which I spoke with the community and the board are to add a bike rack in front of the
property just to kind of cut down on some of the congestion for cars, replacing the sidewalk
in front of the property and then also removing the bay window that I had initially submitted
to the plans with L and I and I agree with all those provisos. The next you will see a zoning
map of the nearby. This is the property that's highlighted on the zoning map. As you can see,
it's RSA 5 adjacent, you know, across from the property. And then this is my application of
appeal and then additionally i have our tax good tax certificate standing i have my yeah that's
the clearance you can see this is the deed of the property stating that we are the owners
and then i have my zoning petitions which i got support from the neighbors nearby and next to the
property there's a little bit more of those and then as you can see sorry this is zoomed in this
is my certificate of bulk mailing. I had mailed it out to 214 nearby neighbors. Um, and then let
me zoom this in. This is the project information form, which I also completed online. A copy of
the provisos where I had, you know, I added, um, an egress and a stairs in the back. And I also
removed the bay window, um, from the property, um, and those initial plans that I had submitted
to L&I. And sorry, it's not letting me zoom in a little bit more or zoom out. And then this is
the plans for the project. As I mentioned, it's going to be the same height as the neighboring
property. And this next set of plans are the interior plans for the project. I will be living
in the top unit and then my sister would be living in the bottom unit. And I've also highlighted the
areas um that i've updated in the proviso and that would be the end of my presentation
excuse me this is sharon seleta these revised plans are included in your packet is that correct
yes they are and how many pages of the revised plans yes um just one page and then i have the
reviso form that I completed as well.
Thank you.
And then I'm just going back up to the community support page.
So did you guys have any questions for the project or?
Frank, are you talking?
Oh, we can't hear. Can you hear me?