Thank you.
Okay, Chair, we have 27 attendees and we can start it when you're ready.
Thank you.
Good morning.
My name is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this morning's ZBA hearings.
With me is our Vice Chair, Carol Tenere.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board secretary, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Thomas Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Also here is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and Lakeisha Dandy, our ZBA hearing supervisor.
Before we begin, here is our virtual format.
Be advised the proceedings are being recorded.
by participating in your knowledge agreement to be recorded.
A video will be available by contacting tonyasunkett at phil .gov.
For the benefit of our court sonographer,
we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are 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 lastly, the question answer box on the screen is not for
comments or testimony. All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett.
so let's look at our continuance continuances for this morning
number two mi 2022 004 360 10960 dunton road that case is continued number five
M .I. 2022, 004352, 3743 North 18th Street, that case is continued.
Number seven, M .I. 2022, 004258, 3959 North Fairhill Street, that case is continued.
Number 8, MI 2021 -005 -316, 1631 Church Lane. That case is continued, Attorney Moving Party.
Number 9, MI 2022 -004 -261 -2807, Nightingale Road. That case is continued.
And number 12, MI 2022, 004353, 1208 Daly Street, that case is continued.
and number 14, MI 2022 -004 -357 -1429, Fanshawe Street. That case is continued.
Any comments relative to the cases that have been continued?
Good morning, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Hand. I do not see any hands at this time.
Okay. Are there any other requests for continuances?
Once again, sir, I do not see any hands.
Thank you. And I also have two cases that we have no exhibits for.
Number one, MI -2022 -004 -260 -5306 North Fish Street.
We have no exhibits for that.
Solange Hippolyte is the applicant.
Mr. Chairman, what number is that?
That number, it's number one.
Jason, any hands?
I'm sorry. I do not see any hands in that case.
I'm sorry, I do not see any hands.
Okay, so that's the first listing.
So that's the first listing, MI -2022 -004 -260 -5306 North 5th Street.
That case is continued, the first listing.
And number six, MI -2022 -004 -355 -1231 -33 Walnut Street.
I have no exhibits, first listing.
Empire Building Partners is the listed owner.
I did not see any hints, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
So MI 2022 -004 -355, 1231 to 33 Walnut Street, that case is continued.
We're going to go to our regular list, and we're going to start with number three.
MI -2022 -006 -689 -1007 Brandywine Street.
Jessica Diaz is the owner applicant.
We have a letter of support from the 14th Ward Democratic Executive Committee, RCO.
And we also have a petition of support from 13 neighbors.
Good morning, Ms. Diaz.
I'll allow Ms. Diaz to speak, sir.
Ms. Diaz, please unmute and wait to be.
Good morning, Chair.
Good morning.
Could you state your name spelt, please, for the court reporter?
Yes, my name is Jessica, J -E -S -S -I -C -A, D -S -D -I -A -Z.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Could you turn your camera on so we can see you, please?
I'm trying to look to see where I can do that.
I'm going to promote it to panelists.
please hold okay thank you
Ms. Diaz will be coming back in as a panelist
okay sure
good morning to Ms. Diaz
there we go
that's it
you're fine now
so our vice chair
has a few questions for you hi good morning have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required
documents consisting of proof of ownership tax compliance refusal referral photos under plans
of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and do
you have a letter uh yes ma 'am okay this is an application for the erection of a fourth floor
addition on an existing attached structure and roof deck accessed from the fourth floor for use
as two -family household living size and location as shown in the application plans there are there's
one use refusal two -family household living is expressly prohibited in the rsa5 zoning district
the other refusal is the maximum building height is 38 feet in the rsa5 residential zoning district
and 42 .16 feet
is proposed.
It's a letter of support from the 14th Ward
Democratic Executive Committee
and you may proceed
and begin by sharing your screen.
And there's also a petition of support
signed by 13 neighbors.
That's it.
Got it.
Zoom came up.
so that's it we're good okay well good morning everyone good morning chair and um other members
of the board my name is jessica diaz um allow me to give you a brief introduction i guess i am
i was born and raised in brooklyn new york um came to philadelphia in the mid -90s to attend
law school here at temple university and fell in love with the city um i purchased the home
and I was the first one in my family to purchase a home in 2003 and so I've been a long time
resident here for over 20 years now and have seen the renaissance and while
while the neighborhood has still maintained its character and diversity over the years.
the neighborhood has still maintained its character and diversity.
So we are a family here.
I have neighbors, I guess, that are here with me, along with my architect, if you have any questions.
Allow me to just show you a little talk about the pictures, show you the current condition of the house.
Oh, here we go.
So, I have, when I first purchased the house, you know, I was in love.
It had character.
It was very unique.
um but as you can see like my basement um ceiling height is a little low so I was never able to
really kind of do anything down there um I also get water at times during hard storms um
I have these windows as you can see let me see if I can zoom it in a little bit
I have radiator heat. I have no central AC. And so my cost of maintaining the house,
you know, is pretty expensive. You see these windows back here?
um what they did um the previous owner blew out the back so i have no backyard
and they made this an extension and it goes all the way up to the third floor
um but these are single pane windows and so my heating bill um during the winter months
is almost like a thousand dollars um so i lose a lot a lot a lot of heat and energy
um that's a hatch I guess to get down to the basement the staircase basically is in the
middle of the house and so I have no bedroom walls I have the basically the staircase kind
of separates um all the rooms in the house and the staircase is very narrow like I couldn't I
couldn't fit the couch that we're sitting on I couldn't bring it upstairs because it wouldn't
Yeah, I couldn't get it over the railings and to clear these kind of landings over here.
Let me go.
Also here, so you see my radiator heat.
These are on each and every floor.
It's very pretty.
But I lose basically about three feet of living space.
because underneath here and behind the radiators is all closet space but these like kind of um
landings are about three feet kind of deep and so that's on each and every floor of the house
great for a woman you know I don't complain about all the storage but
I lose a lot of living space on each of the floors so this is my main bathroom and as you
can see it has no again there's no walls and so now after 20 years and i have nephews that come
over you know um there's no privacy whatsoever when you come out of the shower or when you use
the restroom um here those window panes again again it's about at least three or more feet
that goes back um there's another thing i wanted to show you this is the bedroom so this is the
top floor again no doors no walls it's just all open space
this is the top floor where i would i usually just try to um uh do work is my desk kind of
library area but in the summertime so in the wintertime I freeze but in the summertime I
can't stay up here because all the heat rises and it's 150 degrees up here um I also have you can see
I have these skylights very pretty I loved them when I first came when I first bought the house
but almost every on the letter almost every five years because of the settling it's a very old
house i've had to redo all six of the skylights to get them resealed at a cost of like ten thousand
dollars because any little centimeter you know settlement i start to get water in the house
I start to get water in the house.
and you'll see i guess some of the pictures will show like
And you'll see, I guess some of the pictures will show, like I just get, over the years, I've just gotten water damage.
You can see the water damage kind of over here.
So I've had to do some.
So Jessica, I think I understand what you've just presented.
Why don't you show us like a drawing of what it's going to look like when you're done?
I think that was the next exhibit first so I have gotten preliminary plans my architect is here
oh sure oh and I have finished plans also um I just want to get an idea what it's going to look
like when you're done yep hold on you're going to put an extra floor on you want to go up for
a fourth floor am I right yes and it's not going to be a full like so you know typically you would
have like a um a pilot house right kind of up there a pilot door but because i'm i'm losing so
much storage space if i'm kind of going from you know a full house to basically a two -bedroom
apartment right because i will be living in the in the second unit the top unit right okay so
because i am losing so much i'm going to expand that top so that it's just not a pilot house
it'll have storage i can put my desk up there it'll be a work area basically for me
and that you'd be able to see i believe right here
oh wait
oops sorry
so okay okay it'll be kind of but it'll be set back you know so it's not gonna interfere with
my neighbor my immediate neighbors as far as their view you know to the to the city or anything like
that okay and and you're at the rco how did the rco vote go
yeah unanimously they voted in favor of the my request for the variance okay you know again
we've been i've been here you know initially i looked to sell um i was you know going to open
houses i was looking around but you know we kind of grown to be a little family over here
go out we shovel each other's property you know snow off each other's property
all right so if i'm going to invest three hundred thousand dollars i want to so jessica one other
one other question sure are there any other apartments when you're blocked yes so my
immediate neighbor um they are new to the area they came from delaware okay um um they built a
duplex and so when i saw what they did i was like well wait a minute then maybe i can do that and
i'll be able to afford you know the new mortgage that i would be good good good all right all right
So questions from the board? No, Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Okay, Mr. Chair, I have Ms. Diane Munro with the hand raised. I have an order to speak at
time this time, sir. Okay, good morning. Hi, could you state your name, please,
and spell for the court reporter yes i am monroe e -i -a -n -e monroe m -o -n -r -o -e right do you swear
for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing about the truth yes i do pursue miss
Monroe. Okay, good morning. Good morning. I'm the chair of the 14th Ward RCL. We did have a
open community meeting on this project a couple of months ago. Right. And the community is in
support of this project. We did not receive any negative or any opposition about the proposed
project. And it was explained at the open community and everyone understood at the open
community that it was going to be higher than 38 feet. And even the drawings that were submitted
to, the 14th Ward demonstrated that it will be over 38 feet. So, you know, the community is not
in opposition. No one is in opposition. The people on that block, they are in total support. So we
give our 100 % support of the proposed project. Thank you so much for calling in.
Thank you so much for calling in.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary
I just had a
I just had a quick question both for Ms. Monroe and Ms. Diaz.
So in the RCO letter, there was reference to a proviso about trash storage,
and it said that the desire was not to have trash stored at the front of the property.
I think if both parties would like to have a proviso related to trash storage,
it might be better to affirmatively state where the trash would be stored as opposed to saying
where it would not be stored just for clarification and and I wasn't sure what what Ms. Diaz's plans
were and for that if she could speak to that and Ms. Monroe could um Ms. Diaz where are you going
to put the trash the trash will be stored in the rear side yard okay thank you Ms. Monroe are you
okay with that trash to be stored yes and that was part of our uh okay um support with the proviso
thank you miss munro okay thank you anyone else in the virtual audience
planning commission wait um sir excuse me i thought
i like to introduce a neighbor i guess he was able to join
And he let me know last night he was able to join today.
Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter?
My name is Steven Grosick.
It's S -T -E -V -E -N.
Last name is G -R -O -S -I -K.
Right.
And I have a property at 1026 Brandywine Street.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Sir, are you in favor of this project?
Yes, I am very much.
It's very good to have a responsible property owner on the street who always takes care of everything.
And it's great to have people like this around.
I've been here myself 30 years on the block, and Jessica's been here a long time.
We need responsible property owners like her to take care of everything.
Thank you so much for testifying.
Planning Commission.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair.
There was another hand raised from Mr. Alan Phillips.
I've allowed him to speak.
Okay. Hi. Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter?
Mr. Phillips, please unmute yourself.
Hi. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Hi. Good morning, everybody. My name is Alan Phillips. My last name is, my first name is A -L -A -N, last name Phillips, P -H -I -L -L -I -P -S.
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes sir are you a neighbor yes i am are you in favor of the project i yes i am
and i am i am actually the neighbor that uh jessica spoke of uh that is attached to her we've
been we've been familiar with the projects from the beginning and we support the the uh height
addition and the addition of a duplex and all of that. So we just want to reaffirm our support of
that very much. Thank you for calling in, Mr. Phillips. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the
virtual audience? You're not seeing any further hands, Mr. Chair. Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chair. Good morning. Sarah Bond, Philadelphia City Planning Commission,
s -a -r -a -h -b -a -n -h right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth yes sir please proceed please in 2017 the zoning map was amended on this block
from rm1 to rsa5 in accord with a request from city council but contrary to the district plan
recommendation of excuse me recommendation of rm1 the proposed use would be permitted under
recommended zoning district the city planning commission recommends that the zoning board
grant both the use and the dimensional variance. Thank you. MI 2022 -006 -689 -1007 Brandy -Wine
Street. I vote yes. Proviso, trash stored in rear. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with Proviso. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
thank you miss ds thank you so much thank you thank you thank you and now my packing begins
thank you thank you thank you all right we're moving on to case number four
mi 2022 004 351 1515 porter street vincent defino is the attorney um
Vincent Dufino is the attorney.
Letter of support from Broad Street West Civic Association.
Mr. Dufino.
Mr. Dufino, if you are in the audience, please raise your virtual hand.
Mr. Dufino.
I see him four times in the virtual audience.
Mr. Dufino?
Jason, do we see him?
yeah i see him but he's um but he's listed wait a minute i just went up okay
all right i just promoted mr dofino to panels okay
mr dofino
do we see him
he's available he just needs to unmute himself
Mr. Dofino please unmute yourself
I'm not sure what's going on, Chair, but he is available.
He's just not unmuting.
Mr. Dufino.
All right, why don't we go on and we'll come back to him, okay?
Okay, so number 10, MI -2022 -004 -356 -1818 West Burke Street.
Pascual Calavita is the attorney.
We do not have an RCO letter as at this point.
okay sir mr colovita has been promoted
good morning council
muted here we go and start video okay good morning could you state your name please and spell for
What's the court report?
Musquale Colavita, P -A -S -Q -U -A -L -E -C -O -L -A -V -I -T -A.
Right.
My two clients, I don't know if they've been promoted.
All right.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your clients in the relationship to the property?
James Taylor and Pierre Joseph, members of the LLC owners.
our vice chair has a few questions for you okay do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy we do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership
tax compliance a copy of the refusal or referral photos under plans of the property five days in
advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter
yes we've emailed all of the documents uh we as far as the rco and the letter here is the
i'll try to make it as brief as possible i communicated with them back as soon as we got
the letter from the rco zba regarding the appeal approval attempted to schedule the meeting
i got in touch with judith robinson the uh head of the 32nd democratic ward
finally uh agreed to a date with them it was listed for i want to say 1128 1128 correct and
that's at exhibit um g and i'll share the screen so on that date we were asked to host it so i was
asked to host this meeting which i did my client and i showed um no one else appeared we eventually
appeared. We eventually got in touch with, when I say eventually, about 15 minutes
got in touch with when i say eventually about 15 minutes
It's...
after the scheduled time, because I actually had another RCO community meeting at the same exact
time. So I spoke with Judith Robinson. My client and I spoke with Judith Robinson on that date.
And so no one, no neighbor appeared. No one from the board appeared. Our communication with
miss robinson continued after that night she was uh she actually asked us if we were interested
in putting three units in there but unfortunately my client was unable to obtain uh revised plans
to reflect the three units she was from our conversation obviously this is all hearsay but
uh i have no reason to to be disingenuous with the board but i've contacted via email
voicemails. I've actually spoken to her at least two times since the 28th. I've not received a
letter. I've not received any additional phone calls back. But my clients are at this point in
a money crunch and need to move forward with this. We did everything that we possibly could do
in order to have this meeting. And then subsequent, even if it was just in front of
another just in front of the board themselves we attempted to do that also again um i submit to
the board that we did that i did um prepare the notice to the zoning applicant to to the um the
community i did receive some um letters back that you know either vacant or what or otherwise
and um it's not that complex of a um request it is in an rsa 5 zone so why don't why don't
why don't we do this why don't you present your case thank you thank you so if i can share the
screen that would be great mr chair this is hillary i just want to let you know um mr colavita
and I briefly discussed this this morning and he let me know that he had sent the letters out
and hosted the meeting as requested but the RCO didn't show up nor did any neighbors so
it is it is my opinion that he is he has met the requirements of the board by
or the zoning code by sending out the letters and having the meeting
even though the and tried to contact the RCO or been in contact the RCO but unfortunately they
have not um been responsive all right thank you okay uh again good morning uh this is a an appeal
for a variance to a two -family dwelling in an existing structure it's in an rsa 5 zone
and that's obviously the reason for it being prohibited as of right this was a three unit
dwelling if i'll eventually get to it but just to give you a history on a brief history the reason
it's no longer a three family dwelling is because the prior owner had listed it as a vacant property
filed for a vacant property license which then reverts back to its present
uh proper use of rsa5 so my um client is making one wanted to make no uh height width or length
uh changes but again that's not really part of of this appeal the appeal is just strictly
to make it from it to get a variance for a two -family dwelling uh at if you would like
i'll read in exhibits d which is i'm sorry a which is the deed uh if you want me to show it
to you i can go we're fine we're fine okay so what i'll do i'll go right to the um the history which
is exhibit j which is the zoning um and as you can see the the zoning history file on this one
which was a legal three -family dwelling. If you go to Exhibit K, this is a photograph of the
property. It's in essence a three -story property. And as you can see in the actual, there are two
mailboxes there. The utilities are also split. And if we go to Exhibit L, this indicates all
the properties on that block uh with the exception of one that's not listed here i don't think i
actually put it in there there's only one single family dwelling on the entire block
uh 1801 uh the the opposite side the street is actually
uh 1801 uh the the opposite side of the street is actually zoned as rm1 so what you'll see is
1809 is a corner lot bottom line is i got there are 20 units 20 different properties on that block
all of them are two units and above some is as large as five units and if we go and you know
i'll scroll down i can show you uh what the neighborhood looks like so this one is a photograph
it looks like 1901 north 18th street as you can see they're all basically three -story units this
looks uh towards the property on on the left side of the the photograph again if you continue on
there this is uh on the same block uh the entire block is three units and you can see that they're
all multifamily dwellings as stated there are some vacant lots and if we continue on we have
four family dwelling as you can see by the number of electrical meters on on those two properties
on again on the same block and as you continue on you'll see three unit properties bottom line is
the entire block with the exception of one property are multi -family dwellings and here's
our 1818 birch street which shows uh again we're just requesting that this be
a two -family dwelling and here is a photograph and let me see if i can reduce this of the zoning
notices in the window and stop sharing at this point and just why don't we have your testimony
adopted yes so if mr uh either mr taylor mr joseph we can uh have them promoted so i can
ask them the two questions there's mr taylor at the bottom mr taylor can you hear me yes i can
all right mr taylor could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
my name is james taylor j -a -m -e -s -t -a -y -l -o -r right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel okay mr taylor do you have an opportunity
to hear in my entire um presentation yes okay would you adopt my testimony as your own
as true facts of of as presented yes all right okay good questions from the board
no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
do not see any hands mr chair planning commission
thank you chair sarah bond city planning commission s -a -r -a -h -b -a -n -h
proceed the proposed use of this property is consistent with documented previous uses
it is also consistent with the use of nearby properties the city planning commission recommends
that the zoning board grant the variance thank you mi 2022 004356 1818 westberg street i vote
yes. Harold Tannery, my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. Ishmael Shaheed,
my vote is yes. Thank you, counsel. Thank you very much. May I be excused? You can be. Have a great
day. Okay. Number 11. MI 2022 -004 -474 -1948 -74th Avenue. Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
No RCO letter at this point.
Mr. Anastasio will be coming back in as a panelist, sir.
morning mr chair hi good morning could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
sure verne anastasio it's v -e -r -n last name is a -n -a -s -t -a -s -i -o right do you swear or 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 yeah i represent mr byron collins owner of the property good and
our vice chair has just a few questions. Thank you. Hi, Mr. Anastasio. Do you agree to waive the
reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit
packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and
or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing? And have you met with the RCO? And
do you have a letter? Yes to everything. I just don't have a letter. I haven't heard from the RCO.
A yes to everything. I just don't have a letter. I haven't heard from the RCO.
Okay, you may proceed and begin by sharing your screen.
Thank you.
Thank you.
1948 74th Avenue. This is an application. We're legalizing a non -conforming pre -existing use.
Mr. Collins purchased this property from his grandfather's estate.
his grandfather lived in this property for decades and took it upon himself at one point or other to
turn it into a duplex where he was an owner occupied lived in one and rented out the other
but it was never legalized and my client has purchased it to keep it in the family and would
like to legalize the existing use here's the it's a lower level it's a the basement is all
completely above ground. It's on a corner, and this is the apartment at the lower level.
Then we've got the first floor, kitchen, dining room, and living room, and then
the three -bedroom on the very top floor, the third floor, with a full bath. As I said,
this is a corner property, and as you'll see, all the other corners are either multifamily
or mixed use this is the rear of the property this is where the trash would be stored
there's the door right now to the the apartment my client is planning to put the door
on the front of the property
here is a mixed -use property here on the corner directly across the street
another multi -family across the street as you can see it's at least two units if not three
and here's another multi -family property on the fourth corner
we have interior photos
we met with the 10th uh ward rco and
we have not heard from them i even um sent a packet over to the new liaison to the zoning board
from the city council district as well i do have the lease agreement of sale i'm sorry the deed
the letter that went out to the community proof of mailing to 177 individual households proof of
taxes paid and with that i'd like to have mr byron collins raise his virtual hand
Mr. Collins, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter?
Mr. Collins?
Are you able to hear me?
jason do we see him yeah he's been allowed to speak but i think he's coming in kind of low
mr collins volume
just barely okay
okay all right so so veron you're an officer of the court will you accept your testimony
my client adopts my presentation as his own testimony okay right uh mr mr chair because
of the property's history as a historic two -family in this in this particular family's uh lineage
because of the similarly situated properties especially on the corner that all exist as
multi -family or mixed use because a rehab single family and on this corner uh would be both in
size and inflated price point impossible to fill uh at this intersection which does have its
challenges um because of all of that my client and my client is from this community uh we respectfully
request the granting of this variance so questions from the board no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
in no other hands except mr collins is up again planning commission please oh sir okay
thank you chair sarah bond city planning commission s -a -r -a -h -b -a -n -h
the proposed variance is not necessary to enable viable economic use of this property
The proposed variance is not necessary to enable viable economic use of this property.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board deny the variance.
The property is a major disrepair, Mr. Chair.
Turning this, rehabbing this into a one -family dwelling, first of all, would be cost prohibitive, but no one would be able to afford to fill it.
So MI -2022 -004 -474 -1948 -74th Avenue, I vote yes.
Carol Tenneri, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Number 13.
MI -2022 -004 -262 -3832 North 18th Street, no RCO letter, meaning was held 12 -8 -22.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. I just received an email that Jeffrey Young was obtained by the
applicant however um i don't believe the council office nor the rco were aware that the applicant
was preparing to proceed today so i think we can hear this case um as there's been um evidence that
a meeting is held however i think we should hold um the decision for rco letter especially since
the meeting was just held um as well as for um input from the council office do we think mr
young's here oh he is here he is raising okay good okay fine yes and i just promoted him
to panama sir good morning mr young good morning members of the board uh jeffrey young
here on behalf of the uh applicant uh mr daryl uh miller all right just for the record could
you spell your name please for the court reporter yes uh jeffrey young j -e -f -f -e -r -y
y -o -u -n -g right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes our vice chair has a few questions hi mr miller do you agree to wait did i just call you
mr miller that's the client's name is okay do you agree with the reading of refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy uh yes okay have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax
compliance refusal referral photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter uh yes to um uh to the submission of the
exhibit packet five days in advance um i also just recently submitted some supplemental exhibits um
to the board as well that we will present this morning.
We did meet with the RCO on December the 8th.
However, the RCO has not sent a letter
reflecting what the outcome of that meeting was.
But my client is here to testify to the facts of that meeting
and that he received unanimous support
from those who attended the meeting.
so we'll proceed right mr chairman yeah sure absolutely absolutely okay proceed and begin by
sharing your screen thank you thank you uh again members of the board my name is jeffrey young
i am here on behalf of the applicant mr daryl miller uh for 38 32 north 18th street
Let's table content. Here is the refusal. So we are refused for a two -family use in an RSA 5
zoning district. As I'll get to the presentation, you'll see why my client is experiencing a
hardship and this property cannot be used as a single family under current zoning classification.
This is a copy of Mr. Miller's zoning application, and there's the project information sheet
to show that it's in the 8th Council District, and it's a two -family unit.
This is the deed.
So the property is currently owned by Miller's Miracles LLC, and my client, Mr. Darrell Miller,
is the sole owner of Miller's Miracles LLC.
And if we can get to the next is the tax clearance, showing that Mr. Miller's Miracles LLC is in compliance to the Philadelphia Revenue Department.
and if we can get to the next is the text
And here are some floor plans.
So essentially, the hardship we face here, when a client purchased a property in 2021, this property was already developed as a duplex.
So as we go through the four plants here, I'll show you how it's designed.
Essentially, when you come through the front door here, this is a common hallway.
You go to this first door on the right.
That opens up into a kitchen area.
which is a part of the second unit.
In the rear here is the first unit,
which is a one bedroom kind of studio unit.
The other unit comprises the second and third floors.
And it consists of approximately,
it's about five bedrooms.
I mean, on the plans they note five bedrooms,
but one bedroom is essentially like an office type space.
And this building was designed, has been designed this way since 1955, which I'll get into in the zoning history a little later.
I just want to show the board some pictures of what the property looks like.
Here, this is the front of the property.
As you get a sense of the property on the block, all the neighboring properties are three stories.
And again, there are also other multifamily properties on this particular block.
As you enter the property, this is that first kitchen I spoke of for the second unit.
There's a set of stairs in this kitchen that leads you up into the second unit.
This is the hallway that I spoke of.
Again, you can see the common hallway with the entrances to each unit in this common hallway on the first floor.
This is the rear unit's kitchen.
a picture of the bathroom. You see my client, you know, recently renovated the property
prior to knowing that it was not a legal use. Here is the picture of a rear yard.
These are stairs in the hallway leading to the second floor from that first floor kitchen.
rear bedroom it's a middle room on the second floor
second floor bathroom the large uh front room in the on the second floor
and these are stairs that are lead that lead to the third floor which has two bedrooms and
additional bathroom in it as well
and this is a back room that's essentially pretty much used as can be used as an office space it's
not you know big enough to call a bedroom um this is a picture of 38 29 which of 18th street which
is directly across the street just to show that uh this block um has a history of multi -family
uses already um and that our use is consistent uh with the character of the neighborhood
uh this is exhibit eight is just uh our neighbor notification letter um we met with the rco on
december 8th um again the rco um headed by mr charles karn um has not uh supplied a letter
um however again i'll get my client to testify to um you know what uh he what happened at the
RCO community meeting. Here's our pictures of the zoning notices being posted in the window of the
property. And just to give the board a sense of the neighborhood, we are here where this blue
highlight directly across the street again is multifamily use. The north corner of our block
is multifamily use. And there are a number of multifamily uses by right in the area.
Again, as I mentioned on the block, there are a number of other multifamily, non -conforming multifamily uses as well.
This is an area, Matt, just to show that this area has a plethora of public transportation.
So it's not a burden on any public streets to have this additional, to legalize this additional unit.
It is, you serve by six bus routes in the Broad Street line and is not too far away, a few blocks, about three blocks away.
And here is the zoned archives dating back to 1955, and as you can see, the use for two
And here is the zoning.
families was granted.
So the property in this current configuration has been such since 1955, you know, and we
believe that a hardship will result from the denial of the variance.
The property's unique physical circumstances and history warrant the variant requests.
The building itself creates the unnecessary hardship as it was developed for a two -family use since 1955 and has not been altered.
The hardship was not imposed by my client and granted the variance will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood and the use is consistent with other uses in the neighborhood.
and all that particular block. It is also the minimum variance sought as we do not intend to
change any of the square footage of the property once we use the entire footprint of the building
as is. Strict compliance with the zoning code can only be accomplished through unreasonable measures
you know, such as a complete demolition or renovation of the property, which the Commonwealth
Court has deemed to be grounds for a hardship. And with that, members of the board, that concludes
my presentation. I will ask if my client, Mr. Darren Miller, could be appointed so I can ask
him a few questions now or please raise your virtual hand
he's been about to speak okay could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
Yes, Daryl Miller, D -A -R -R -Y -L -M -I -L -L -E -R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Mr. Miller, what day did you meet with the RCO to discuss this proposed variance?
On December the 8th.
All right. And could you tell the board just what happened at that RCO meeting?
At the meeting, the community supported me. Charles Karn asked everyone after I presented
my case, was anybody in opposition? Everybody was in support of me. Charles Karn said that I
needed to get site plans for the presentation. And I told him that I was unaware that I needed
site plans? He said, yes, you need site plans. So I told him I would reach out to an architect.
And then he didn't want to continue with the vote on the meeting. And I said, if that's all I need,
I can have that to you in two days. I provided the documents. I emailed them to him. And I still
haven't heard back from Mr. Karn yet. I followed up with two emails. But the community was definitely
in support of me. No one was in opposition. Thank you. Mr. Miller, have you heard my
testimony? Yes, I did. And was my testimony accurate? Yes, it was. And would you adopt
my testimony as if it were your own? Yes, I do. Thank you. Questions from the board?
Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I have Mr. Charles Richardson with his hand raised. I have allowed him to speak at this time, sir.
Okay. Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Good morning, Mr. Chair. Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass from 508 City Hall.
Could you spell your name just for the record?
No problem. R -I -C -H -A -R -D -S -O -N.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
With regard to this case, the last correspondence that we received, the applicant did meet with the RCO on December the 8th.
We received a correspondence from him on December the 9th, which is the last that we received, that said that he would be requesting a continuance, that he had requested a continuance.
uh his being able to try to characterize what what took place is kind of disingenuous at this
very moment because in fact we have no corroboration from uh Mr. Mr. Karn as to what
actually took place so we're going you know we are waiting to uh you know to hear from Mr. Karn
uh I unfortunately was not on that uh zoom at that at that on that evening but
I, unfortunately, was not on that Zoom that evening, but I'm waiting to hear from Mr.
Karn with regard to that situation, because the last that I talked to him, he said that
the applicant had applied for continuous.
We had no idea Mr. Young was being engaged, and we just heard about that today from Hillary.
So, okay.
Thanks, Mr. Chair.
All right.
Thank you.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
do not see wait a minute uh sir uh oh wait mr daryl miller put his hand back up again
you don't need him anymore do you want do jeffrey you want him back yes yes i mean essentially i
think there there are some things that mr richardson said that my client would like to
clarify okay all right he's gonna see sir you've already been sworn in yes uh just that um the
reason why I had to retain Mr. Young is because I just found out on Monday from the zoning board
that I needed an attorney. And so that's why he was retained. And speaking with my attorney,
I could, the meeting would have had to vote, but Mr. Karn said that I needed site plans. And
I realized that I didn't need site plans to turn it into a duplex. Am I, is that accurate? Because
I was unaware of that, if that is accurate or not. Yeah, so Ellen, so I believe there was some
confusion amongst what was needed. I mean, the RCO may have requested site plans for their own
use, but when you're applying for a duplex use, LNI does not require plans to be submitted with
that application okay all right thank you thank you both um anyone else in the virtual audience
you know further hands mr chair planning commission
thank you chair sarah bond city planning commission s -a -r -a -h -b -a -n -h
the appellant's hardship claim is supported with evidence of prior use of the property
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board grant the variance.
Thank you.
So, Hillary, what I want to do is we'll continue this and then we'll see if we can get straight with the RCO.
But I don't want to give it like two weeks because with the holiday season.
Why don't we look for the third week in January?
Is that possible?
Yes, that would be fine, Chair.
Just give me a minute and I'll put a date so we have that on the record.
Give me one second.
Is that okay, Jeffrey?
Yes, sir.
all right um that would be uh january 18th mr chair okay that's that's perfect all right we'll
vote on it we'll vote on it then um pending receipt the record is otherwise closed pending
receipt of a letter from the rco and councilman bass all right thank you very much jeffrey thank
you so let's go back to number four right mi 2022 004 351 1515 porter street vincent dofino
i've made mr dofino a panelist again so okay mr chairman for the record jim snell is uh on the
hearing. Oh, very good, Jim. Thank you, Jim. Mr. Dufino.
I'm here. I'm here. Hi. Mr. Dufino, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court
reporter? Sure. Vincent Anthony DeFino, D -E -F, as in Frank, I -N -O, 2541 South Broad Street,
DeFino Law Associates. Okay. 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 and their relationship
to the property? Sure. My client is Homegrown Coffee and Creation LLC. James Rosani is the
proprietor. They're a business that's been around for about five years. They started out on
Broad and Jackson, and then they moved to another location. And for two years,
They've been at 1515 Porter Street, which is about a block west of Broad Street.
So hold on one minute.
Our vice chair just has a few questions for you, okay?
Certainly.
Hi, Mr. Dufino.
Do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, Ms. Tenere.
Hi. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos under plans of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance?
Yes, and yes.
Okay, great.
Okay, okay, okay.
You may proceed and begin to share your screen, which is up.
Yeah, hopefully I could.
And right now, I'm out in Arizona, so I'm having some difficulty with my technical abilities.
And let me try to...
Okay, so there's the lease.
We submitted that already.
The refusal, basically, back to the...
I have to move you guys around or something over here because I can't scroll down.
having issues but um the refusal was because takeouts not permitted it needs a variance
and prepare foods needs a special exception and um basically uh this business has been around
for about five years like i said here's the pictures now i i gotta figure out how to get
these pictures the right way so let me see if i go to page view now of course
uh here you go all right so here's the building uh it's 1515 west porter street this is the
outside of the building now this was formerly how you doing delhi how you doing okay so um
or as we say in south philly how you doing but um it would it was as is for 10 years before this
with the same layout and basically my client moved in there he got his health licenses
food preparation licenses business licenses and everything was dandy and he's it's a booming
little business in south philly one of the biggest booming businesses believe it or not that
that came into the neighborhood.
They do, you know,
real delicacy sandwiches
and fine coffees.
So this is the outside of the building.
And then
I'll get you down to
that's the neighborhood area.
It's about a block
away from my office, actually.
And this is the inside.
So I gotta
flip it around again.
there you go so this is the inside now you get a lot of celebrities come down here
philadelphia phillies uh flyers they come in for the coffee the coffee's excellent the food's
excellent they're a member of the business association at south philly a prominent member
and they do a really good job and uh basically there was no objections from the neighborhood
But here's the plans.
As you can see, it's a front counter, and then there's a cooking area for the sandwiches,
and then there's a storage area in the back that houses the coffee supplies.
Here's the letter of support from the RCO.
There was no opposition whatsoever, and they've been a very good neighbor in the neighborhood.
unanimous support
and then
we sent
everything certified mail
so everybody had notice
and basically that's it
Mr. DeFino, why don't
you have your client come on and adopt
your testimony, okay? Yes, yes
James, are you available?
Can you raise your hand?
I'm afraid to touch anything on this
because I'm afraid it's going to go out
okay mr rossini good morning hi good morning could you state your name please and spell for
the court reporter absolutely it's james j -a -m -e -s rossoni r -o -s -s -o -n -i right do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel
yeah mr rossoni you you heard my testimony here today yes sir and is it true and accurate
everything yes sir and do you adopt it as your own testimony yes sir thank you mr rizzoni
okay questions from the board no mr chairman no no no mr chairman questions or comments
from the virtual audience
No further hands, Mr. Chair.
you know further hands with the chair planning commission
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair.
Unique physical conditions of the property present a hardship.
Additionally, the proposed use is consistent with documented previous uses at this property.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board grant the variance.
MI 2022 -004 -351 -1515 Porter Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Kishmael Shahi, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you so much.
Have a great day.
Have a great holiday, everybody.
You too, Vince.
All right.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called this morning's list?
Mr. Chair, I do not see any hands raised.
Good, good.
Okay, thanks, everyone.
See everybody at 2 p .m.
Take care.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's EPA hearings.
With me is our Vice Chair, Carol Tenere.
President, Mr. Chair. Our Board Secretary, Ishmael Shahid.
President, Mr. Chairman. Our Board Member, Thomas Holloman.
President, Mr. Chairman. And our Board Member, James Snell.
President, Mr. Chairman. Also here is our Board Attorney, Hillary Emerson,
and our ZBA Hearing Supervisor, Lakeisha Dandy. Before we begin, here is our virtual format.
be advised the proceedings are being recorded by participating your knowledge agreement to be
recorded a video will be available by contacting tanya sunkett at phil .gov for the benefit of our
court stenographer we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying
if you're participating by phone if you wish to testify press star nine to raise your hand
and star six to unmute. To enter 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. Any comments should be directed to our executive director,
Tanya Sunken. So I'm going to first look at our continuations that we had this afternoon.
Here we go. Right with you.
Number seven, MI 2022 -004 -680 -1248 North 19th Street, that case is continued.
Number eight, MI 2022 -004 -694 -1929 Ridge Avenue. That case is continued. Number nine, MI 2022 -004 -679 -1917 Ridge Avenue. That case is continued.
And number 12, MI -2022 -004 -550 -180 -West Duncan Avenue, number A.
That case is continued.
And number 12.
Sorry, Mr. Chair, number 13.
I haven't.
did receive a request for continuance so we can continue that one thank you we can hear that one
oh continuous okay sure we received a written request this morning mi 2022 004 476 13 14 to 16
north broad street that case is continued are there any comments relative to the cases that
have been continued. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Hand. Hi, Jason.
How are you doing? No continuances? I have a hand up from Mr. Patterson. He wishes to speak.
Okay, sure. Mr. Patterson? Mr. Patterson, could you state your name and spell for the
court reporter, please? Sure. Good afternoon, Ronald Patterson, P -A -T -T -E -R -S -O -N.
Sure. Good afternoon, Ronald. Patterson, P -A -T -T -E -R -S -O -N, 1835 Market Street.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Thank you.
Case number 13, sir?
Yes. Yeah, we are requesting continuous. Thank you for granting it.
I just wanted to add that we're also seeking leave or permission to submit revised plans
back to the department to address part or all of the refusal item for parking.
Okay, is that Hillary, we're okay with that?
Mr. Chair, we'll handle that request separate administratively.
Okay, good.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, thank you.
Any other comments relative to continued cases?
Sir, I see no further.
Wait, I see another hand.
Any additional requests for continuances?
I have a hand up by Mr. Tom Bannar.
Hi, Mr. Banner.
Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
First name's Thomas.
Last name's Banner.
It's B -A -N -N -A -R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
What case are we talking about, sir?
The one Mr. Patterson just referred to.
It's a 1314 North Barrage Street.
I believe it's 13.
I represent the building next to that location.
And in terms of the parking variance, we do have some concerns that I just wanted to speak about today.
Oh, well, we're not.
The case is continued.
And we'll handle that when the case is called back in.
Gotcha.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Any other requests for continuances?
Do not see any hands, Mr.
I have a case number 15 that I have no exhibits for,
MI -2022 -004 -487 -6016 Bingham Street.
Stanford Smith is the owner.
Mr. Smith, you are in the audience,
please raise your virtual hand.
Mr. Smith, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Name Stanford Smith Jr., last name S -M -I -T -H -J -R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Smith, we don't have your exhibits.
I believe all of it was uploaded after the community meeting, but, I mean, if it's a way I can send it, I'll send it right now.
When was that?
Hillary, do we have anything at all from this?
No, I didn't see anything, and we don't have a way to upload things.
They would have to be emailed.
Emailed?
Yes, you would have received instructions for where to email them in your original email from RCO notifications.
um okay i'll i'll look at it because i know y 'all emailed me with all the attachments so
right there were instructions in there that told you what documents to email
five days in advance and where to send them oh okay i'm gonna um
mr smith we're gonna continue we're gonna we're gonna continue the case okay yeah that's fine
And we'll let you know well in advance when the case is.
And if you have any questions, you can always call the office and they'll tell you what to do, okay?
Okay, I appreciate that.
So should I email it now or wait until the new email?
I would say...
No, wait, sir.
Okay, wait.
All right, yeah, I'm fine with that.
So MI -2022 -004 -487, this was the first listing, 6016 Bingham Street, the case is continued.
Okay, so we're going to go here now to our add -ons.
Okay, so our first add -on MI 2022 -004 -396 -2901 on Grant Avenue, this is a re -vote to add
and revised plans.
One minute.
One minute.
I'll be with you in one minute.
Number one, I certify that I have read and watched all videos with this case.
My vote is no.
For those voting yes, the proviso is revised plans, two pages, stamped by ZBA on December 21st, 2022.
Revised, what is it?
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with revised plans consisting of two pages and today's date.
Stamped by ZBA with December 21st.
stamped by ZBA
September
December 21st.
Sorry.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes
with proviso.
James Snell,
my vote is yes with proviso.
Is Ishmael here?
Yes, I'm here.
Is this with
the Hicken?
no no this was uh this was 20 the 2900 grand avenue you were no before oh yeah so i'm still
and is i need you to certify recertify okay yeah recertify to watch the video of the 12 -2 -20
hearing i think this is the one i had to watch yeah so i certified that i watched the all the
pertaining material to this case and my vote is no. Okay, number two, MI 2022 -003 -649 -3000
West Schoolhouse Lane. My vote is yes with provisos. Revised plans, six pages,
to stand by ZBA December 21st, 2022
for amended refusal dated 9 -21 -22.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holliman, I recuse myself, Mr. Chairman.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
You have to certify on this one too.
Yes. Ishmael Shahid, I certify that I have watched all the pertaining material to this case, and my vote is no.
Okay. Number three, MI 2021 -002 -095 -4319 Ron Street. We will vote on this on a later date.
Number four, MI 2022 -002 -678 -1330 East Burke Street.
Carol, you'll have to certify on this case.
I vote no.
Carol Tenere, I reviewed everything that I possibly could, and with all the opposition
to this, my vote is no. Thomas Holloman, my vote is no. James Snell, after reviewing,
my vote is no. Mr. Mayor Shahid, my vote is no.
Number 5, MI 2022, 004 -586 -7111 Germantown Avenue, I vote yes.
um okay carol tenary this is steve master's case right 71 11 it is it's that church up there okay
carol tenary my vote is yes thomas holliman my vote is no jane snell my vote is yes
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
2022 as per supplemental findings of fact and conclusions of law adopted
as per supplemental findings of fact and conclusions of law adopted by the ZBA on December 21st, 2022.
Bill, sorry, hold on one second. Bill, can you just certify you read the transcript from me?
I did. I've read the original transcripts. Every transcript there was with this.
I think I was supposed to vote right
you were
Thomas Holloman
I certify that I read
the transcript from the
6 -28 -2022
hearing and my vote is
James Snell, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Jim and Ishmael, need you both to certify that you read the transcript for the hearings that you were not present for?
James Snell, yes, I do certify that I read the transcripts.
I certify that I did read
and listen to all of the
material pertaining to this case
and my vote is yes
with provisals
number 7
MI 2022
004 -160
100 west of
Al Street
I certify that I have read all past
hearings
I vote yes with revised
plans one page
stamped by ZBA December 21st, 2022
as per supplemental findings of facts
and conclusions of law adopted by the ZBA
on December 21st, 2022.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
With all the provisors.
And I have read the transcript.
and was there a video with this?
Carol, you were present at both hearings,
so there's no need for you to certify.
Okay, thank you.
Thomas Holloman, I certify that I read the transcripts
from the 9 -28 -2022 hearing,
and my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
We'll provide it.
Number eight.
I'm sorry.
Jim and Ishmael need you both to certify as well.
Sorry about that.
I wasn't sure.
All three.
I do certify that I read the transcripts pertaining to this case.
ishmael shaheed i certify that i listen to all the material pertaining to this case
my vote is yes with proviso no number eight mi 2022 004 161 31 west duval street i certify that
i have reviewed all past videos and listen to all transcripts i vote yes
with proviso revised plans one page stamp by zba on december 21st 2022 as per supplemental
findings of fact and conclusions of law adopted by the zba on december 21st 2022
carol tenere my vote is yes proviso
thomas holliman i certify that i read the transcript from the 9 28 2022 hearing
my vote is yes with proviso jane snell my vote is yes with proviso
ishmael shaheed i certify that i listen to all the material pertaining to this piece and my vote
is yes with proviso we're going to go to our regular list and we're going to start
yeah one second i just need jim to certify got it uh i'm sorry about that uh i do certify that i
saw all pertaining videos and read transcripts related to that case.
Thank you all.
Okay, so we're going to go to the regular list.
We're going to start with number four.
A witness in this case has to leave.
So MI 2022 -004 -094 -2413 Greer Tulip Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
This is a resumptive hearing.
Everything's closed on this except for testimony from an architect.
Mr. Anastasio will be coming back in as they pass.
Mr. Anastasio will be coming back in as a panel must say.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
You've already been sworn.
Could you just state your name for the record?
Vern Anastasio.
A -N -A -S -T -A -S -I -O.
All right.
Is your architect here?
I'd like to call Mr. Jeremy Avellino.
Good morning, Mr. Avelino, to Panama, sir.
Hi, Mr. Avelino.
Yes, I'm here.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Sure, it's Jeremy Avelino.
J -E -R -E -M -Y -A -V -E -L -L -I -N -O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Avelino, can you tell the board your role as part of the development team?
I'm the architect.
Okay, and before we have you present your materials, what were some of the metrics used
and or considered in taking on this project?
Sorry, Baron, can you say that again?
What were some of the metrics used and or considered when you took on this project and
developing this project?
It was important for us to look at the three lots within the context of the neighborhood
and we revised it from four to three units and we wanted to maintain the number of units
that would be by right as to use if we were going to develop these three lots independently.
So essentially when we looked at the units if we were to consolidate it into one it kind
of yielded to about a very large house, a 7 ,500 square foot house, a bit out of scale
with the neighborhood, and, you know, a roof deck that looks over the neighboring yards
and whatnot, even at 38 feet high.
So that's just not something that we thought was particularly appropriate.
So we decided to try to scale it back and break up the massing a little bit so it wasn't
just one giant building.
Right. And you worked with, the team worked with immediate neighbors, right? Three separate households and coming up with their input in mind, coming up with the alternative design. Is that correct?
Well, we worked with, you mean in response to the RCO meeting?
Yeah, exactly. We took the comments from the first RCO meeting into account and changed it considerably based on their comments.
And Mr. Chairman, we have submitted, in addition to the two dozen or so signatures of the immediate neighbors, the signatures of the three households immediately adjacent to this property as well as a result of Mr. Avelino's redesign.
Okay. And with that, I'm going to allow Mr. Avellino to take it from here with sharing of his screen and walking through the project. Okay.
Everybody see that? We can now. Yes, sir.
Great. Thanks, Chair. So I think some of this is in the package you've received, too. So
if it's repetitive, forgive me. But the site is located near the intersection of Tulip
beneath Boston Street. And as Vern said, it's these three leftover parcels that front along
Boston but currently have addresses at the rear of homes facing Tulip. And this is just
a survey of the current site where you can see all three parcels that face along Boston and the
two that are back behind the front one aren't even accessible right now. Some site photos
for reference this is a view looking southeast along Boston Street so you really can't see the
lots there behind this fence and behind these trees so this is a view looking at the the front
facing parcel and again this goes over the zoning refusal information which which you already have
but it is about not complying our current design does not comply with the rear yard depth in an
RSA 5 zoning district the required is nine feet and we're proposing at the back end so that we
can push things off the side we have to skunch it towards the back so the rear yard is just under
just under 3 feet 8 inches. The side yard width in the zone for a semi -detached dwelling
three feet eight inches um the the side yard width uh
is 5 foot minimum and our smallest one is 3 foot 6 even though the front side yard is
much wider at 10 feet. And then the fence is you're required to have 4 foot high 50 %
opaque fence and we're proposing a 6 foot high fence at the front. And again the largest
ONE IS FOR RSI V SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING AND WE'RE PROPOSING A THREE UNIT MULTIFAMILY DWELLING THAT
WE THINK IS COMMENSORED WITH THE SIZE OF THE PARCEL. I WANTED TO POST THE STATISTICS OF
HOW WE WORKED THROUGH THE PROCESS. SCHEME ONE, EARLY ON WE HAD FOUR UNITS. THE GROSS AREA OF
THE ENTIRE BUILDING, ALL FOUR UNITS, WAS JUST UNDER 5900 SQUARE FEET. IT WAS THREE STORIES
plus a mezzanine level, but the full height in the front was just over 36 feet and 38
feet in the back. The current scheme, which this was presented to the RCO, so really that's
what you're seeing now, is down to three units, and that's a 25 % reduction. We reduced the
total square footage to just under 4 ,800 square feet. That's an 80 % reduction in total square
footage in the front is two stories plus a mezzanine and in the rear sorry it's a bit of a
typo there's still three stories in the rear so that we reduced it by one story in the front
by a 13 foot reduction of height in the front where you really see it and again here is a
massing model of the concept and again it's being developed by an immediate neighbor whose backyard
to butts the site and you know with um a lot consolidation would have created a 2012 square
foot lot which would have allowed one single family home at about 7500 square feet as of right
which is about five or six times the average sized home in this area which didn't feel that
was appropriate so we created a massing of two separate buildings that are connected they look
like separate buildings but they're actually connected and it houses three units um excuse me
um it's essentially a triplex which is it's a very common use in density in philadelphia even
in one row home and its height and massing are determined by essentially pretty unique site
constraints on this on this island a lot um and what we're trying to do here is set it back from
neighbors to give it some buffer yards and softening the edges of of uh softening these
hard edges uh which is something we see in a lot of traditional row homes on corners whatnot so
we're kind of calling off of that there's some private terraces uh but they're set in with a
focus up towards the sky so we can maintain privacy between the neighbors um again here's
the zoning sheet that you have in in uh as part of the submission and this shows the zoning site
plan so here is that here's boston street here's the front portion of the building and the rear
portion with buffer yards on all sides to pull it back from the neighbors to pull it back from this
the empty parcel here where there's a lot of gardening and to pull it back from the the
neighbors uh who front on uh i believe that's your street and here are some floor plans again
three units the blue is unit number one access directly off boston street the green is unit
number two, and that's access through this generous side yard into, that's a double height
unit here. And then unit three has its own door here. Oops, sorry. And that accesses
above the second and third floor plan above. There's no roof decks or pilot houses that
go above the roof. We have some small terraces that are recessed into the structure with
uh sort of a focus up so these these walls are are actually as high they're full height walls
and have small uh apertures cut into them so that the focus is up and not out to the neighbors so
this this is a section through the building so it does go into the below grade level with egress
wells for um uh emergency escape and and and light for uh for those bedrooms uh but this gives a
sense of the front unit essentially acts almost like a single family home on the block the unit
number one and then you have almost like an accessory dwelling unit tied to that so this
is two units behind that but effectively legally it's they're not separated it's actually one
building and this last exhibit it was just an attempt to show what we were talking about to say
if we were consolidate the entire parcel into one you know by right you end up having
of, you know, what you can do in 38 feet is a four -story building plus a basement set
essentially five levels, pilot house, roof deck.
The gross area of this building is 7 ,500 square feet and the height is 38 feet plus the, you
know, three and a half feet for the guardrails and then a 10 -foot pilot house on the side.
three and a half feet for the guardrails and then a 10 -foot pilot house on the side
and this is not something we intended to design but it came up in the conversations with neighbors of
asking us you know or just just a conversation about what why not just do a single family home
well even if you split the lot in down the middle into two lots the the parcels are not big enough
they're still too small to develop into single family homes given the existing zoning code so
this is the only thing we would we could do by right and we just did not um feel that there was
a market for this or that it was appropriate uh for the block so i'll uh i'll leave it at there
chair and thank you so much for your time thank you mr avalino mr chair any any members of the
board have a question while the before a lot of the architect leaves no mr chairman okay no mr
chairman okay all right mr chair am i allowed to just uh wrap it up you could give me a short wrap
up? Yeah. I just want to thank Mr. Avelino. Because the building, building one home here
on a uniquely large and unusual lot would ruin the streetscape, blow up the scale,
and damage the character of the little Boston street upon which this lot lay.
Because we work tirelessly with the neighbors, especially the most adjacent ones that come up
with an alternative plan because we have the additional support of over two dozen immediate
neighbors because i believe the council person is leaving it up to this board as a result of that
support because three residentially zone lots have a long history of four opa tax accounts
for all those reasons we respectfully request the granting of the variance
All right, so we're going to vote. We've already had planning. So MI2022 -004 -094 -2413, Rear, Fulop Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, I certify that I reviewed the video of 12 -7 -2022, and my vote is yes.
james snell my vote is yes jim can you please certify that you saw the video
thank you i forget this yeah uh i also certified the video and read all uh pertinent transcripts
pertaining to this uh case
yes my vote is yes thank you thank you we're now going to go back to our regular list
Number 1, MI -2022, 004 -399 -2964 Richmond Street.
Alan Nocklinson is the attorney.
Letter of non -opposition from Council Member Squilla.
Recommendation of support from the Southport Richmond Civic Association.
Mr. Nockamson will be rejoining the panel, sir.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and Members.
Mr. Nockamson, how are you, sir?
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, Alan, A -L -A -N, last name Nockamson, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and their relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Rose Garden Filla, LLC, the property owner.
And in the virtual audience with me is Carrie Borish and Bob Shaw, members of the Limited Liability Company, as well as Sasha Spriggs, one of the representatives from the architecture team.
Okay. Our Vice Chair, Carlton Harry, has a few questions.
Mr. Nachmussen, do you agree with the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal or
referral photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met
with the rco and do you have a letter uh yes in all respects okay great you may proceed and begin
to share your screen thank you very much thank you
all right so i'm here to present 2964 uh richmond street uh this uh property is in the port richmond
section of philadelphia uh it goes street to street from richmond street to salmon street
uh currently there's a three -story uh structure on the richmond street side
uh currently there's a three -story uh structure on the richmond street side scmx2 and then on
the salmon street side there is it's technically rsa5 so we have split zoning and it's a one -story
garage so during our presentation we'll go over the notice of refusal which is dated july 8 2022.
we did amend uh or seek we obtained authorization to amend the zoning appeal
to make modifications to our project based on community input.
And we have a notice of refusal dated 12 -8 -2022.
So for record -keeping purposes, I would ask that if the board is so inclined to grant our zoning request,
we do so by way of proviso specifically referencing the notice of refusal dated December 8, 2022.
Afterwards, we'll review the letter.
Hold on one minute. Does anybody have a listening to another? If they are, could they try to mute themselves, please? There's a real lot of noise in the background.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Afterwards, we'll review the letter of support from the Southport Richmond Civic Association. This was a well -attended meeting. It was actually a second meeting.
um we're in the first meeting where we had a very lively discussion um where certain modifications
to our project were requested that's why we have this uh second refusal and then during that second
community meeting is when we received overwhelming support from the community as well as then a
letter of support from the south port richmond civic association and you'll see in that second
exhibit also a letter of non -opposition from councilman squilla's office after their review
of our project uh we have levers a letter of support from nearby neighbors uh 2970 richmond
street uh so we have nearby neighbor support uh proof of bars donnie hearing uh notice uh posting
uh you know which is obviously prerequisite to this hearing our presentation packet um our rco
meeting notice for the second meeting which above was taken along with the proof of mailing of that
notice to the surrounding properties within a 250 square foot radius. Our application for appeal
that we filed with the ZVA along with the notice of refusal in the project information form. Our
deed to the property showing that Rose Garden Filla LLC is the owner of the property and our
certificate of tax clearance showing that we're in good standing with respect to property taxes
and such with respect to this property. Again in the virtual audience is Kerry Borish and Bob Shaw
members of the corporate entity that which owns the property and one of them will virtually raise
their hand and adopt be sworn in and adopt my testimony as their own and we'd be more than
happy to take any questions. I also have Sasha Scraggs from the architecture team who can answer
any technical questions I cannot answer. So first things first again this was the original notice
of refusal. So this is split zoning, CMX2 and RSA5. So what we're looking to do is put an 11
unit or here was a 12 unit apartment building on the upper floors and on the lower floor on the
first floor facing Richmond Streets is to have a commercial component there. So Richmond Street is
a commercial corridor uh which you know obviously has been nurtured over the years and but it still
needs uh the density in order to be successful so for first of all the commercial space is empty
uh the residential space is currently empty and we're hoping to add density in order to help
not only support the commercial space in our property but other surrounding commercial spaces
as well uh so we you know as part of this project uh we're looking to put an addition on the
basically take the roof off literally um the rear of the property where there's the one -story garage
uh and um add two stories there and then um repurpose much of the building structure and
restore this to its natural beauty um so as part of this project we received initially four refusals
Because of the split zoning, you know, the zoning examiner, based on the code, took the most restrictive zoning as to this project for each zoning classification.
So we asked for multifamily use of 12 units.
Well, for RSA 5, technically, multifamily is not allowed.
So, but we're also a CMX 2 property.
So just because of split zoning, we're getting refusal as to that.
Then the second reason why we're getting refusal is for the commercial component again even though we're CMX2 property in the front where there is a commercial component.
even though we're a cmx2 property in the front where there is a commercial component already
existing at least technically um or conceptually because there's rsa5 zoning for this one lot in
the rear you know for salmon street we're getting a refusal by proposing commercial component which
again would not make sense um so those two refusals have everything to do with the fact
that we have split zoning we can't do anything about it so even though we're offering multi -family
with a property that is probably 50 % to 60 % CMX2, we're getting refusal for that. Even though
we're offering a commercial component, which is required for CMX2, because of the RSA -5 zoning,
we're getting refusal as to that. The third refusal is the height. Originally, we were seeking
a portion of our space, again, of our building, which goes street to street from Richmond Street
to Salmon Street, a portion of our building, we're looking to put 45 feet high, while 38 feet
is required, whether it's RSA 5 zoning or CMX 2 zoning. After discussion with the neighborhood,
we did agree to decrease the height of the building to the required 38 feet, and you'll see
that in the second refusal that's part of our presentation, and which is the operative refusal
for the pending zoning appeal. And then finally, the maximum fence height, six feet's allowed,
while we're proposing 15 feet and change.
Again, all we're doing is using the existing facade
for Salmon Street, and you'll see that.
And we're getting a technical refusal for that.
So really, the three of the four refusals
are technical refusals.
The only refusal which is, again, self -inflicted
was the height refusal where 38 feet was required
and 45 feet was proposed.
And that's the one we got rid of.
after discussion with the community so really if you look at this now um we have all technical
refusals and another point is we agreed to reduce our unit count by 11 to make it more in line with
the surrounding properties from a density perspective so really we have only technical
refusals we're proposing multi -family this is partially or or at least 50 cmx2 which would
be allowed we're proposing commercial on richmond street a commercial corridor which again forget
about the zoning classification would make sense because it fits within the fabric of the community
but regardless this is a cmx2 property so we should be allowed to put commercial but because
of the rsa5 component we're getting refused and then the final refusal will be the height
where six feet allowed is allowed and 10 feet proposed but that's really just our building
facade at a certain point. And that's a technical refusal, unfortunately, under the code.
So our letter of support, 45 people showed up to this meeting, according to this vote.
Over two -thirds of those people voted in support. So we have overwhelming support from that
community. And again, it was a lively meeting, but I think, you know, especially after the first
meeting um we we you know we swayed the community because the project makes sense and we took to
heart a lot of their non -zoning related issues with the property and most importantly we reduced the
heights you know so such that we're within the code requirements and then because of that
overwhelming community support councilman uh mark squilla uh also issued a letter of non -opposition
and that's in front of you as well. And then again, 2970 Richmond Street, which is our
neighboring property, is in support of this project. And as well as 2969 .7, the property
behind us as well, that touches us. So it's really important to get the nearby neighbors to be in
support of our project. And then just the hearing notice posters, again, proof that we posted this
property well in advance of the hearing and then our presentation packet um again a little different
than what i usually show but i figured you know again i took the architectural plans and presentation
packet we showed the community so i try to be consistent with that um you can see this is an
existing uh building structure which goes from richmond street all the ways to salmon street
and you'll see from the photographs what I mean but the front part on the Richmond Street side
there's a commercial component on the ground floor and then there's two stories above for residential
current condition is there's a one -story garage here what we're planning to do is literally take
off their whole roof on the Salmon Street side create like a walkway and create an interior
create like a walkway, create an interior facade on the Salmon Street side to create a walkway and
then to build up from one story on Salmon to three stories. And the commercial component would stay
the same. There'd be a one -story commercial component going from Richmond Street and then
there would be residential above Richmond Street as well as within this new portion of the Salmon
Street facade. And then this is what I'm saying about like the mix zoning here. So this is Richmond
Street. This is Salmon Street. This is Indiana. This is Ann Street. This is our property. This
is a 4 ,000 square foot lot. Very, very large lot. Unfortunately, it's only 20 feet wide. So
And then it's 200 feet deep.
So it gives us some limitations of exactly what we can do with this 4 ,000 square foot lot.
But what you can see here is that from the Richmond Street side, this is CMX2 zoning.
And from this, essentially the Salmon Street side, it's RSA 570.
So this split zoning is making it very difficult to do anything within the code as of right.
But you can also see that this is a commercial corridor.
and you'll see that from the pictures too so here is our property right now which is a commercial
which has commercial component on the first floor and then above our is a three -story structure on
the richmond street side and again all we're looking to do is revitalize the commercial
component on richmond street and to then revitalize the residential component throughout the property
on from richmond to salmon street but what you can see is that apartment building next to you
there the large that's right that's a that's a four -story apartment building uh right next to us
that's why we thought we can we weren't even going to go that high in the front on on richmond or
salmon where our height on 45 feet was going to be in the middle and we thought that the scope
the height would match well but the community did not appreciate that and we took that to heart but
we really try to mix it with what's pre that's currently there and you can see the apartment
buildings right here as well from this angle um but you can see the salmon street sides right
this is our property it's a one -story uh garage there's also to the left of up to the right of us
it's a one -story garage and then to the left of us i think it's some type of not industrial but
it's definitely not a residential use and it's a similar type of look and feel and you know there
are residences on this property in this block oops so what you can see here from this illustration
really focus on the salmon street side because that those are the neighbors that were most
concerned about this project right even though we have three sets of garages there are non -residential
in nature the the residents on the salmon street side was concerned about the height of the
building because there are two story structures on there and they didn't want to like feel like
they were being dominated by our structure uh so what we did was we reduced the height not only 38
feet you know as maximum throughout we actually reduced it on the salmon street side to 29 feet
to kind of feel within the scope of what was going on in the salmon street um and what you can see
here is this is the portion where we have this refusal for the fence um so originally we were
just going to reuse the existing brick facade and this based on the technical uh interpretation of
the code they treated this as a fence so originally when we're six feet required while 15 feet is what
we're proposing was because we're repurposing this brick facade we're taking that brick facade down
slightly a bit that is going to be 10 feet in this particular portion and that that's where
our refusal is the other thing that we did is not only reduce the unit count by one we also reduced
the count of how many units have accessibility through salmon street because that was a concern
of the neighborhood as well they they wanted to push as much obviously the use to richmond street
as possible but because of the narrowness of the building the uniqueness of the building we wanted
to repurpose the building, we do need some entry points on Salmon Street as well. But we've reduced
the amount of units that enter through Salmon Street by one, and we reduced the overall project
by one total unit as well, which fits more into the character of the neighborhood.
And then this is a good way to show the difference of the height of the project. So this is the
original elevation, but if you look at it now, it went down, right? So if you look at it, we reduced
the height to go to the 38 feet but as you can see we're only having this small
uh to go to the 38 feet but as you can see we were only having this small portion go to 45 feet
but we then shrunk it down and that helped us also reduce the unit count as well and then you can see
this is richmond street side where we have the commercial component which makes sense um you can
see that this is just a simple floor plan first floor second floor third floor and then the
mezzanine because there's bi -level units from the second and third floor the third floor the second
and third floors um but you can see we have its own trash room we have a bike room you know we're
trying to be responsible in the neighborhood uh by making sure we have proper trash storage and
maintenance for this property and obviously because the amount of units will have commercial
pickup in addition to from the residential units but also the commercially and then this is our
RCO meeting notice, we met at a well -attended meeting on November 9th at 7 p .m. 151 addresses
were notified in this meeting. These are the lists of the addresses, proof of mailing to those
addresses, proof of emailing to the RCOs as well as the other relevant parties of this community
meeting, our application for appeal that we filed to the ZVA, along with the original notice of
refusal and project information form, our deed to the property, showing that Rose Garden and
Filla LLC is the owner of the property, and our certificate of tax clearance. Technically,
it shows the balance, but that's because the city now on its website is showing a balance for 2023
for everyone. That's the only year a balance is owed, but technically that money's not due until
the first quarter of the year so with that being said i'm going to unshare my screen i'm going to
ask uh either mr uh boris or mr shaw to virtually raise their hand so they'll be sworn in and adopt
my testimony as their own
miss boris yes hi how do you do hi hi could you state your name is spelled please for the court
reporter yes certainly it's carrie c -a -r -y borish b -o -r -s -h and thank you for hearing us today and
thank you for your time and service sure do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel uh yes mr boris you heard everything i had to state about
your uh zoning matter that is correct and is it true and correct yes it is and do you adopt it as
your own testimony? I do. Thank you. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. Questions or
comments from the virtual audience? Mr. Chair, I have a Taylor Stover with the hand raised.
Okay. Sure. Hi, my name is Taylor Stover. Hi, could you spell your name please too for the
court reporter? Yeah, absolutely. T -A -Y -L -O -R -S -T -O, V as in Victor, E -R. Right. Do you swear or
for him to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am a neighbor. I live... Okay, what's she? I am at 3024 Richmond Street. Okay. I moved here
in April of 2021 and the immense change that I've seen with you know the retail spaces and the new
neighbors coming it's insane like when I first moved here there were no street lights coming
home at night it was kind of like sketchy and whatnot now I have friends that live on Mercer
and when I'm walking home I can't wait to get to Richmond just because of the lights
I think that the new neighbors that are coming in and the people that are coming to these spaces
there it's just a good atmosphere like I feel comfortable walking around and you know I study
crime and I pay a lot of attention to what's going on in the city and living here with all the new
neighbors and the new spaces and the retail corridors and like what's going on it makes me
feel much more secure I'm 28 and I just think this addition to this neighborhood would be
fantastic and I think it would make like me as a woman and I know other neighbors that are my age
feel a lot more comfortable. Okay. All right. So thank you very much for calling in and giving
your opinion. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
No further answer, Mr. Chair. Hi, Planning Commission.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good afternoon. David Fecto, 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?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Yes, sir, I do.
Proceed.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Chairman and members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in the zoning of this location from commercial mixed use to residential multifamily.
The applicant could apply to split the current split zone lot into two code -compliant lots, one residential single family and one commercial mixed use, and then pursue development by right on both lots.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the proposed use in dimensional variances.
MI 2022 -004 -399 -2964 Richmond Street.
I vote yes with proviso per amended refusal dated 12 -8 -22.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So number two, MI 2021, 002 -585 -250 Bybury Road.
Sean Ward is the attorney.
We do have a letter of opposition
from the Somerton Civic Association.
Mr. Ward will be coming back in as panel, sir.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman,
members of the board,
Sean Ward, 331 East Street Road, Trevos, Pennsylvania, 19053.
Attorney for applicant.
Present with me on the call today is Ferkat Kusinov and Andrew Mogulinski, representing
Strategic Vantage LLC.
Sean, just for the record, could you spell your name for the court reporter?
Oh, certainly.
First name is Sean, S -H -A -W -N.
last name is ward w -a -r -d right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth most certainly do our vice chair has a few questions uh mr chairman if
i if i can uh interject uh uh temporarily um we we have a letter from the rco um with
some deed restrictions um i wouldn't characterize it as a letter of opposition
but I will address that
as the time comes
I was probably
at the bottom there I think they talk about
who's opposed right
the bottom of the letter
there's a whole section about who opposed
that's where I got it from
you can have your time
to explain it that's fine
okay Mr. Ward
do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy
yes I do
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the
refusal or referral, photos under plans of the property, five days before this hearing,
and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, to all the above.
Okay, great.
You may proceed and begin with sharing the screen that is already up.
my version of my cover sheet. However, I failed to attach it. But it is RM2. And so we seek use
variances today. We have A2 as our application of appeal. A3 is our project information form.
A4 is our proof of ownership. A5 is proof of tax clearance. As stated by Alan in his prior
presentation. That tax clearance does include taxes due for 2023, which as the board as well
aware are not due till March 31st. So we are tax compliant through 2022. A6 is our survey plan. A7
is our site plan. A8 are floor plans. A8 are renderings, and I would point out these are
suggestive or, you know, examples of some of the amenities that we would
proceed with. A9 are the photographs. We have subject property, aerial view, street views.
The subject properties do include the posting of the property. A10 is the RCO letter of what I
will call support from Somerton Civic. However, it does include a suggested deed restriction,
which I will address during my presentation. I don't know if Alice Udovich from the Councilman's
Office is on the call. However, if there is a letter from the Councilman, I would just ask for
record purposes that that be marked as A11. As far as the relevant zoning history, we were here last
year, 2021, where we obtained a temporary permit for a moving and storage company.
And then prior to that, 1947, up until close to 2021, it was manufacturing and millwork for
Premier Products Company, who was basically a patio enclosure type manufacturing and retail
company. Unfortunately, they either went out of business or just relocated outside the city
in recent years, my client having purchased the property, I believe, in 2019.
So A13 is the zoning map and A14, another error there, is the aerial photograph. So
obviously, we have the notice of refusal. Again, this is zoned RM2. This property sits on
Byberry Road at the furthest extent of far northeast Philadelphia before you hit Montgomery
County. It's near the corner of Philmont Avenue and Byberry Road, which I'm sure many members of
the board are familiar with. So the use of personal services is prohibited RM2, as is the
uh eating uh you know eating and drinking establishment so we have our uh project
information form our application of appeal my transmittal letter to the board uh requesting
that the matter be listed uh here is the deed uh the strategic vantage lp purchased the property
the first day of november of 2019 uh again with the tax clearance uh there is a balance due for
2023 again as stated that is not due till march 31st we have our uh let me blow that out okay uh
this is a survey plan of the property this being bybury road running from the bottom
right corner uh up towards the center um
And then here we have our site plan. The building is an irregular shaped building, almost like a flag, but with a triangular shape to the right.
It is an irregularly shaped lot, triangular for the most part in shape.
This plan was submitted to the Planning Commission for landscape buffering purposes, as you can see noted with the green, and that plan was approved by city planning for landscaping purposes.
With regard to the actual floor plan, basically coming in from the parking lot, you would have a reception area and a pool for the aquatic center, relaxation and spa rooms for therapeutic massages.
There are water closets for the patrons, a woman's locker room, a men's locker room with showers.
In the center, we have a juice bar to serve.
In the center, we have a juice bar to serve, you know, smoothies, juices, and prepared foods, you know, in a sit -down capacity, not pre -packaged prepared foods.
And then we have here, let me, okay.
Okay. So this is the existing building, top left. The proposed renovations to the exterior
of the structure will greatly improve its appearance and ambience. These, again, are
just examples of what are typical in basically a Turkish spa or bathhouse. So we would have
some sort of a recreational pool, saunas, again, saunas. We also propose a small area for
entertainment of the youngins with some arcade -type amenities, the hot tubs, ice pools,
things of that nature for the health and wellness of the aquatic center.
This is a picture of the posting of the poster on the front of the building.
Again, another shot of the poster. This is the site looking from Bybury Road. This is the front
of the structure. As you can see, there are condominiums or apartments on either side of us.
We are bordered by the West Trenton Regional Rail Line. It is clearly an industrial building,
Even though it's zoned RM2, across the street, across Byberry Road, is also multifamily dwellings.
And this is a photo from the backside of the property.
As you can see, there is clearly ample parking within the lot.
Again, this is some views from Byberry Road, showing the front of the building.
Again, it being used by Premier Products for many, many years until they either relocated or ceased operation.
These are just some ancillary storage buildings.
They would also be used for storage by the Wellness and Health Center.
Some more shots of Byberry Road.
currently it is being used as a moving and storage facility for long -haul distribution of
household furnishings as you can see a lot of home depot boxes bicycles mattresses you know etc etc
as far as recent zoning history this is the zoning permit as you can see from 2021
for the wholesale distribution and storage.
You know, it's a moving company.
That permit was issued and the board,
pursuant to our agreement with Somerton,
knowing that we were coming in with the Health and Wellness Center application,
we agreed to a temporary variance for the moving and storage company,
which would expire in 2024, as you can see on the permit.
This is the permit from 1947 for Premier Porch Enclosure Company.
And again, that company, you know, occupied and used this site for millwork and manufacturing
and, you know, continuously for all those years.
um again this is the zoning map it is zoned rm2 um uh you know you know across the street is rsa3
rsd3 to the south of us and here is an aerial photograph as you can see this is a film on
avenue to the upper left corner you're entering into uh it's either montgomery county or bucks
County. I think actually Byberry Road might be the separator between Bucks and Montgomery County
at that point. However, it is at the far reach of the upper left quadrant of northeast Philadelphia.
So with regard to Somerton's letter, Mr. Chairman, I would point out that
It, while the Southern Civic Association voted to support the application for the health and wellness center, you know, the aquatic facility, they asked.
you know, the aquatic facility, they asked for a proviso that BYOB be prohibited.
While we did not specifically agree to that, I suggested that if they wanted to include that as a suggested proviso,
by all means do so, and we would address it at the board.
I would point out that in their letter, and they routinely do this, they ask for agreement to restrictions on what are basically the regulated uses.
They're not easily identifiable in this letter.
However, in the restriction, which quite frankly, I drafted as a courtesy for Somerton, it included uses, regulated uses that would be prohibited and adult oriented merchandise or services, drug paraphernalia, gun shops, detention and correctional facilities, on and on and on.
My client has no objection to a restriction as far as these uses because, quite frankly, they don't belong on the site.
And he has no intention nor desire to include them in any future use and would be more than happy to include them in a restrictive covenant.
With regard to BYOB, I would point out that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has an advisory that clearly says there's nothing in the liquor code or the PLCB's regulations that prohibits an individual from bringing his or her own alcohol into an establishment as long as it is legally procured in the Commonwealth.
So we feel that any reasonable or responsible competent adult, if they want to bring a bottle of wine or a six -pack of beer into the aquatic facility, it should not be unreasonably restricted.
And again, you know, I compare those uses to, you know, a private country club, a hotel, you know, any other establishment that provides similar services.
So if, you know, if a reasonable, competent adult and, you know, a couple wish to bring a bottle of wine to the aquatic center, I don't think that that should be unreasonably restricted.
And again, I'm not quite sure, and I've discussed this with Hillary, that I'm not sure that the Zoning Board has the authority to regulate the consumption of alcohol or the provision of your own bottle of wine.
Sean, could you go back to their letter?
I'm going to go back to where they end the letter about opposition and what they say.
I don't have the letter.
Right here it is.
This page.
I think there's a little section there. Here it is. Yeah, that's it. The vote of the SCA members taken was predicated upon the applicant's agreement to apply the list of use restrictions, i .e. the regulated uses, of indefinite duration to the property by means of a written instrument, i .e. the deed restriction, which we have no qualms with.
We're fine with that. So, you know, in the absence of that agreement, the vote was taken at the meeting, which one of opposition to a variance in the absence of that agreement.
So and then they took another vote whereby 13 members voted to oppose a variance in the absence of the agreement and six members voted regardless of whether an agreement was reached.
Right. So in other words, in other words, you know, the regulated uses, you know, would be restricted.
However, we feel that, you know, reasonable adults should be permitted, you know, to, you know, bring a cocktail or a bottle of wine to an aquatic center.
So I do have Ferkat and Andrew on the call.
Ferkat being the lead member of the LP, I would ask that he be recognized.
I ask that he raise his hand so Jason could find him quickly, and he will verify and adopt.
Ferkat, have you raised your hand?
Hi, could you state your name and spell please for the court reporter?
Can you unmute yourself and state your name?
Furcat, can you unmute yourself and state your name?
Hold on, please.
So, Furcat, if you're still in the audience, please raise your virtual hand.
Oh, there he is.
Yes, hi, I'm sorry about it.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter?
Furka, the first name F -U -R -K -A -T, and the last name Kusenov, which is K -H -U -S -E -N -O -V.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Furka, have you heard my representations to the board today?
Yes, I did.
Are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
Yes, it is.
and would you adopt them as your own testimony yes thank you very much all right hi questions
from the board no mr chair no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman all right questions or
comments from the virtual audience do not see any further hands sir no hands no sir
um planning commission thank you sir david effecto city planning commission mr chairman
and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential
multi -family zoning at this location the current zoning creates a clear hardship
preventing the building's reuse given the physical condition of the property and the
building's documented use history the city planning commission recommends that the board
grant the use variances. Okay. MI 2021 002 585 250 Bybury Road.
I vote yes with proviso. Eating and drinking establishment is limited to sit down restaurant.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, thank you very much.
I wish you and the rest of the board and the entire ZBA staff a very Merry Christmas and a happy Christmas.
Same to you, same to you.
Thank you, same to you, Sean.
Thank you very much.
Number three, MI -2022 -004 -417 -3901 Lancaster Avenue.
Alan Knocklinson is the attorney.
I believe we have a letter of support from the RCO.
And also, I believe we now have a letter from Councilwoman Gauthier's office in support.
Yes, Mr. Garrett, this is Hillary.
We have an email from Councilman Gauthier's office indicating their support of this matter.
Hello again, Alan Ockamson.
All right, Mr. Ockamson, you've already been sworn.
Could you identify your clients and their relationship to the property?
Yes, Florence and Joy Furman, their owners, are the owners of the property.
Right. And our Vice Chair has a few questions for you.
Hi, Mr. Nockamson. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance, refusal referral,
photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter?
Yes, in all respects.
Thank you. You may proceed and begin by sharing your screen.
Thank you so much.
All right, so I'm here to present 3901 -05 Lancaster Avenue. Florence Furman has owned
this property for almost 50 years. She currently has her restaurant there on the ground floor,
and she's looking to develop this property by keeping her restaurant on the ground floor of
this new building structure and have residences above. So during our presentation, we'll be going
over the notice of refusal, the letter of support we received from the People's Emergency Center
Community Development Corporation. I believe I also heard while I was transitioning over as a
panelist, the chairman acknowledged that we do now have a letter of support from the district
council member. I do have some email correspondence from Mr. Goodman, the district council member,
Zoni8, who also acknowledged in writing, because of the parameters of this project, that they are now in support.
because of the parameters of this project, that they are now in support of this project.
I have a petition from nearby neighbors.
So the Furman family is a fixture within this part of West Philly.
We're on Lancaster Avenue, a commercial corridor.
And we're trying to create density in this very uniquely shaped and positioned property on this commercial corridor,
which you'll see by way of the maps that are exhibited for photographs of the property,
our plans and drawings and then we'll go over our rco meeting notice we had a well -attended
community meeting um and you know we had unanimous support but you also see the letters uh the notice
that went out to the surrounding property owners um and proof of mailing of that community notice
our application for appeal that we filed with the zba along with the notice of refusal as well as
its project information form or deed to property showing that my clients own the property in their
individual capacities. And then the payment agreement. So my client is currently on a
payment plan to pay their tax arrears with the state of Philadelphia. Again, in the virtual
audience, we have Joy and Florence Furman, the owners of the property. One of them will virtually
raise their hand, be sworn in, and adopt my testimony as their own. I also have in the
virtual audience Scott Murphy of Design Blend. So if you have any technical questions, he'll be able
to answer those. So the notice refusal. So this is a CMX2 property, but given where it's located
on a commercial corridor and its unique physical characteristics, I would equate this more to a
CMX two and a half property. You know, this commercial quarter is in desperate need of
density to help support it. And based on those, you know, based on the foregoing, we believe that
the requested variances make sense under circumstances. So what we're trying to do
here is consolidate 3901 and 3903 -05 into one lot. We are looking to demolish the existing
mixed -use building there, and to erect another mixed -use building with a restaurant on the
first floor to replace the restaurant that's currently on the first floor, and then to put
16 residences above. And you'll see that we have a responsible floor plan where there's no basement
living. The commercial component takes the first floor and the basement level. We have multiple
uh access points for entry we have an elevator uh you know for this neighborhood uh that is
aging and needs uh this type of housing and will show affordable housing um and that's one of the
reasons why the community is enthusiastic about this project as well as a district council member
because there is a lack of affordable housing and housing which has an elevator service and
one -bedroom units for this aging population. But we have three refusals. So the first one is the
fact that the density of the residential components, we're asking for 16 units. If this was a CMX two
and a half property, we'd be more akin to that. We'd still be short. But that's why, you know,
but because of the rising interest rates, the cost of construction, and many other factors that are
outside of control um we could not build this building in that pretty much any respect that
would be allowed that would be allowed as a bright um in in you know again as a compromise and this
is not zoning related we are providing affordable housing of two affordable units uh again not that
it's only related but my client um has a community benefits agreement uh that was signed by the
coordinating rco we also have agreed to work with the district council member and you know
and the state planning commission and making sure that there's a proper deed restriction
holding us accountable for those two affordable housing units uh as part of this project uh so
in you know to allow for the greater density to make this project go forward we need this you know
we and to provide that affordable housing we need this extra density uh the second refusal has to do
with the occupied area, where 80 % is only allowed of occupied area, where we have 97 .68%.
But again, not out of character to where we are. Right now, we're a non -conforming building to
begin with. And we're a triangle or a lot, which would make it almost impossible to comply with
the code and have a functional floor plan of any sort. So again, that's an easy one in terms of
meeting our burden. And then the third one has to do with the height. Technically under CMX2 zoning
we're required to have no more than 38 feet in height. Again a technicality they're counting
Again, a technicality, they're counting at 63 and a half feet in height. We're really 53 and a half feet at the roof line. But again, we treat this more akin to a CMX two and a half zoning where we would be allowed 55 feet in height.
as 63 and a half feet in height. We're really
Also, we're on a triangular lot where we have no neighbors.
So we're not taking anyone's light and air away.
And because of the unique nature of the configuration a lot, we do need additional height just to be able to fit reasonably units in the building.
So here's a letter of support from the People's Emergency Center, CDC.
As you can see, this was a well -attended meeting.
We had 12 individuals attend, separate and apart from the presenters and the board members themselves, and we received unanimous support.
And, you know, in the last paragraph, they stated, as such, we are in favor of this project.
The applicant has been an active community stakeholder that provides a safe space to gather in our neighborhood.
We are confident that this project, as proposed, will be an asset to the community.
Again, this is someone who has been in this community for over 50 years.
The Furman family is well known in this part of West Philly. They're not going anywhere. And the fact that they're also making sure that their restaurant, which is an institution in this part of West Philly, stays there in this new proposed building structure, and that they're providing affordable housing to, again, a community that needs it.
and reasonable housing to their aging population,
they were well in support of that.
And again, that's why,
and I don't know if Mr. Goodman's online,
but, and I haven't seen a letter of support,
but that's why my understanding
is why the council members in support of this as well.
And then the petition.
So my client made a concerted effort to,
before the meeting,
to meet with as many individuals as possible,
explain the project.
And through that, she generated much support.
So excluding their property, they had 25 other individuals in close proximity to us sign a letter of supporting their project or a petition supporting their project.
And this is the backup. These are the actual signatures.
And then again, we're on a commercial corridor of Lancaster Avenue.
We're also on Spring Garden and 39th Street.
But you can see we're literally on an island.
So the height variance that we're requesting is appropriate under circumstances because we're not taking anyone's light in there.
Given the unique configuration of the property, too, requires these dimensional refusals as well.
And as far as the density requirements, again, we believe we should be treated more as a CMX 2 .5 property than a CMX 2 property.
And under those circumstances, we still fall so much short of the density requirements, but we're also, as a tradeoff, providing for that additional density, affordable housing by way of de -restriction of two units.
And then, as you can see, we're a commercial quarter, and this commercial quarter really does need density in order to, you know, revive itself.
And these 16 units will help in that endeavor.
And then photographs of the property.
So 3901 Lancaster Avenue from Lancaster Avenue, from Spring Garden Street, from North 39th Street.
So we're a five -story structure.
But, you know, let's go first, the orange notice posters, proof of those orange notice posters being posted within a lot of period of time.
Lancaster Avenue to the right of the property.
Lancaster Avenue to the left of the property.
you can see this is the five, I was going to mention a five -story structure. We're a five -story
structure. So it's not uncommon to have five -story structures here. So the scale of this part of town
in some ways is not out of character to what we're requesting similar. And then Spring Garden Street
to the right of the property, Spring Garden Street to the left of the property, North 39th Street to
the right of the property, North 39th Street to the left of the property. And again, I just wanted
to show this. This is a great example of the height that we're looking to have. I can't tell
you how high it is, but it's not 38 feet. It's probably more in line with what we're looking at
at the 53 and a half feet roof line. So again, the fact that we're on a triangle on an island,
we're not taking anyone's light in there in comparison to something like this, which is next
door to other structures, which would take away people's light in there. And then our plans and
drawings like again design blends which is one of better known architecture firms in the city
is handling this project which shows the seriousness of like the Furman family they
really want they just don't want to piecemeal something together they want to make something
that's very special generational that's going to outlast this generation of Furmans so again you
can see that we're a triangular shaped lot and you know we have our challenges but we also have
ability to have a lot of light and air for our residents as well. And then you can see from here
uh for our residents as well and then you can see from here the site plan again we basically
to cite.
take 100 percent long coverage which again is not dissimilar to what we have right now
with the current building structure uh you can see uh again we have three streets 39th street
lancaster avenue and spring garden streets uh you'll see here from you know the uh site plan
there's an elevator here which is important obviously code required but also important
because with this aging population,
these one -bedroom units are going to be helpful
for people who don't want to live in these row homes anymore
who now have a place to stay with these one -bedroom units
where that inventory is not there yet in this part of town.
And then this is just the elevation again,
just to highlight this.
We are at 53 1⁄2 feet.
Just the way the pilot houses are situated,
that's where it's counting the actual pilot houses
as part of the height calculation but we're not 63 and a half feet we're 53 and a half feet for
all intents and purposes and then uh that's the site plan from another uh perspective and then
this is just the floor plans so this is the floor plan uh for the basement um as you can see there's
this is all for the commercial space the kitchen's down there there's storage for the commercial
space but you can see most importantly and there's bike storage down here as well but most importantly
what you'll see or not see is residential space down there you know we don't think it's appropriate
to have residential space especially given the confines of this of this project and then this
is the first floor plan so you can see the primary access points for the well for the commercial
component would be right here on the corner where Spring Garden and Lancaster intersect.
There's 50 or so seats for the restaurant, and there's nine seats at the bar.
The primary point of access for the residential component is the 39th Street side, where there's
lobby area where the elevators here also a particular note uh is there is uh there is a
utility uh room for trash um and there's direct access uh oops i'm sorry there's a direct access
for trash uh for commercial pickup which obviously will be here given the amount of units in here
but they really had a thoughtful design in making sure that trash was stored appropriately and
disposed of appropriately. And then you'll look at the floor plans. Floors two through five have an
A, B, C, and D. Each are one bedroom, one bath. There's two ways to get, you know, there's three
ways to get to each floor. You can take the elevator. There's two sets of staircases, one on
the corner of Spring Garden and 39th Street. And then there's one staircase on actually Lancaster
and obviously it's the elevator. You come on the landing, unit A is a one -bedroom, one -bath.
Unit B is a one -bedroom, one -bath. Unit C is a one -bedroom, one -bath. And unit D is a one -bedroom,
one -bath. There's really a scarcity of one -bedroom apartments in this part of town that's
geared not to the college students, but actually the residents who live there.
And then these are just the floor plans, the typical A units. Again, we went over the typical
B unit. We went over all one bedroom, all one baths, and all spacious. And then unit C, same
thing, the typical C floor plan, this typical D floor plan. And then just again, just looking at
the elevation from different angles. This is the Lancaster side. This is the Spring Garden side.
It's a mix of materials between brick and composite materials. And then this is our notice
at this well -attended meeting October 4th of 2022. We sent that notice to 102 addresses.
These are the addresses we sent it to, proof of mailing to those addresses,
our application for appeal,
our notice of refusal, our project information form, our deed to the property showing the
Vermin to own it. And then I'm not going to bore you, but this is the payment plan. I had
Ms. Emerson review it to make sure that it was within compliance to making sure that we're tax
compliant. And my understanding that is correct, that we have a valid payment plan for both
properties. With that being said, I'm going to stop sharing my screen. I'm going to ask that
either Joy or Florence Vermin virtually raise their hands. They can be sworn in and then they
that they adopt my testimony as their own.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Florence Furman, F -U -R -M -A -N, Furman.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Yeah, Mrs. Furman, you heard everything I had to say about your project.
Yes, I did.
And is it true and correct?
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I did.
Thank you very much.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I have a hand up from a KC Bechtel.
I've allowed them to speak at this time.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
my name is casey bechtel c -a -s -e -y b -e -c -h -t -e -l right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor i am i live on 39th street
okay proceed a couple houses basically the same block so i live on the same block as this building
and the building that is currently there is extremely unsafe the pictures do not do it
justice uh the sidewalk on spring garden street side it has variations in uh the the sidewalk is
uneven because of the tree by at least six inches depending on where you're walking so you can
easily trip and fall it's very dangerous last year a piece of the cornice a metal decorative cornice
was swinging i understand the conditions the question would be it's hard how do you stand
with the new project i support the new project 100 only because of how unsafe and afraid i'm
just afraid to walk near the current building okay only because of that i am concerned that uh
I just don't want the new building to be as poorly maintained as the last one.
We understand your comments.
Thank you very much for calling, and we appreciate your comments.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, sir.
Marlo Taylor has a name.
I don't have any time.
Hi, could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
My name is Marlo Taylor.
M -A -R -L -O -T -A -Y -L -O -R.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, sir.
Proceed.
I am very supportive of the project.
It would be really nice to have an upscale restaurant in our area because there's not many of them.
And I am approaching the age and population, so I really appreciate the thought of them having one -bedroom unit for the seniors in the neighborhood.
I think it would bring a lot of aesthetic to the changing neighborhood.
Thank you so much for calling in. We appreciate your comments. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Mr. Chair. Ms. Catherine Hopkins -Bott has her hand raised up.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, Catherine Hopkins Bott.
K -A -T -H -E -R -I -N -E -H -O -P -K -I -N -S hyphen B as in boy, O -T as in Tom.
And I am in favor.
I'm sorry, sir.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And you're a neighbor?
Yes, I live at 426 North 39th Street.
I am in favor of the project.
Well, thank you for calling in and we appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
Is there anyone else in the audience?
No, sir.
There are no other hands.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Board Members.
David Fecto, City Planning Commission.
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from commercial mixed use
2 to commercial mixed use 2 .5. Even under the proposed zoning, the proposed height would not
be the minimum necessary to provide relief. The applicant could achieve 13 total dwelling units
by applying for the mixed income housing bonus, so 16 units is not the minimum necessary to grant
So 16 units is not the minimum necessary to grant relief.
relief.
The mixed income housing bonus is an enforceable mechanism to guarantee affordable units within the building.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the proposed use variances for this proposal.
Thank you.
MI 2022, 004 -417 -3901 Lancaster Avenue.
I vote yes.
My vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahi, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, and have a happy holiday season.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Happy Hanukkah.
Right.
Thank you.
Number five, MI202 -004 -531 -1326 -28, Chestnut Street.
Daniel Reisman is the attorney. Non -opposition from the Washington Square West Civic Association.
Letter of non -opposition also from Council Member Squilla.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Could you state your name and spell please for the court reporter?
Yes, it's Daniel Reisman, R -E -I -S -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 the property?
Yes, my client is Barcade P .A. Chestnut, LLC, and it's the tenant at the property.
Okay, and our vice chair, Carl Tenere, has just a few questions.
Hi, good afternoon. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Okay. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes. Yes, as to everything.
Okay, great. You may proceed and begin to share your screen.
Okay, can you see the screen?
Not yet.
It's coming up.
Nothing yet.
It should be up.
Nothing yet.
why don't you try to do it again it's up it's up i think it's up great good
yeah okay um so uh my name again is dan riesman i represent the applicant barcade pa chestnut llc
um with me in the remote audience are the principles of the of my client paul kermizian
and Pete Langway. Just as general background, I have 11 exhibits that have been submitted in
advance of the hearing. I'm not going to walk through each one, but just to summarize, they
include photos, maps, floor plans, background on the applicant, and Exhibit A2. I have two letters
in opposition one is from the washington west washington square west civic association
and the second letter in opposition is from councilman squilla
the proposal is for a sit -down restaurant um we'll talk a little more about this but it's
themed with arcade games the um use is permitted subject to obtaining a special very a special
exception from the board so we do not require a variance and we do not require a showing of
hardship the property i'm just going to give you general orientation of it
you'll see it right here so it's in the core of center city it's right at the corner of chestnut
street and juniper street you can see where my cursor is is the property the property faces
chestnut street it runs along south on juniper and then it runs through to sansom street in the rear
of the property if you look at the um i'm showing now an aerial photo again here is the property
and as i said this is a sit -down restaurant so as we all know this is obviously in
And as I said, this is a sit -down restaurant, so as we all know, this is obviously in the core of Center City.
It's a use that's very consistent with the immediate neighborhood right across the street from the property.
You'll see Fogo de Chao.
A block to the west is the Capitol Grill.
Right across the street on Juniper Street is the Tradesman restaurants.
and then across the street um across juniper on drury is mcgillen's ale house
so again it's right in the heart of the commercial district um and within that
radius you know we're talking um very consistent with all the various uses on that block
the zoning map
Here's the zoning map, and again, you'll see the property, and it's CMX5 is the zoning
classification and it has a center city overlay.
Can you show us exterior photos, maybe?
Yes, I'll do those right now.
so um this is looking west yeah there's the property there's the property
tradesman right across the street so this is in what's called the hail building it's an
eight -story building that's the frontage where the space will be here's the property and then
And I'll give you a straight on, Mr. Chair.
And here's the property.
Yeah, that's fine.
That's great.
And then it's, so, you know, the whole property runs to the rear and Juniper Street.
Our property, and we have floor plans, I can, I'll just make them available and my client
can answer specific questions.
But the floor plans show that the property goes about, the premises for this space goes
about halfway down Juniper Street.
yeah so really right about here there's an entrance to the building on juniper street
and then if i'll show you a few interior photos to get a better sense of the space
so the the premises are on the first floor a portion of the first floor a portion of the
mezzanine space and then there will be storage in the basement okay okay um this space it actually
i've included in the prior approvals it was previously approved as a restaurant as part of
a hotel in the building so this is not only consistent with the neighborhood but it's
consistent with the prior approvals for the property. The Exhibit A8 includes information
about my client. They operate under the name Barcade. They have nine locations in the country,
Brooklyn, Detroit, Los Angeles, and one in Fishtown. That opened in 2011. That's been very,
very well received. As I mentioned, this is a special exception, not a variance,
so it's a lower standard and um included in exhibit eight relating to my client is how they
will manage the restaurant and staff it all of this information and i'm not going to walk through
it in detail but it all shows that consistent with a special exception it has no adverse impacts
on the neighborhood in terms of overcrowding or light and air and so on and for those reasons
We believe it squarely qualifies for a special exception,
and the Wash West neighbors voted unanimously not to oppose it.
Why don't you bring your client on and have them adopt your testimony?
Mr. Kermizian, if you would raise your hand, please.
He's been about to speak.
Hi, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter?
Hi, this is Paul Kermizian.
it's k -e -r -m -i -z -i -a -n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do proceed counsel mr commission uh you're a principal of the applicant is that
correct that is correct and did you hear my state statements today yes and are they true and correct
to the best of your knowledge information and belief they are and you adopt them as your own
i do thank you what questions from the board no mr chairman
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Do not be in your hands, Mr. Chair.
Okay, Planning Commission.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and board members.
David Fecto, City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location.
the applicant has shown that a sit -down restaurant would have no more of an impact than a sit -down
restaurant would be expected to have and therefore the city planning commission recommends the board
grant the special exception for a sit -down restaurant. Thank you. MI 2022 -004 -531 -1326 -28
Cheslin Street I vote yes. Carol Tenere my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Sorry.
Shahi, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Happy holidays to everyone.
Same to you.
Thank you.
Number six, MI 2022 -004 -624 -3263 -65 North Front Street.
David Orphanides is the attorney.
um letter of support from h -a -c -e uh also letter of non -opposition from council member lozada
applicants applicants submitted 21 form letters of support from neighbors the majority from the
33 30 3200 3300 block of north front street good afternoon mr chairman members of the board
the one -story portion extending all the way to the rear property line to a three -foot wide alley
that separates it from the abutting property to the east at Fronts on East Westmoreland.
But as you can see, that condition continued from the 40s straight through to the present day.
So again, three stories at the front.
And this building, my clients acquired this property in 1994.
And back at that time in 1994, they secured a zoning permit, which you can see at tab 10, for the use of the subject premises.
Excuse me, it was a buy -write permit for the use of the property for social services, which, as you can tell from my description of my client, is what they do.
And it's been used as that.
It had been used as that until recently when they elected, they decided to temporarily move out.
They moved down the block into temporary offices in anticipation of renovating the interior of the property for their use of both their employees and their clients.
Now, as you can see here, again, this is the one -story portion of the building that extends to the rear.
And here is the alley to the one side, to the east of that.
And you can see the abutting property to the east of us has a solid wall on the other side of that alley.
The proposal is to fill in the one -story portion, above the one -story portion, with two stories at the second and third floor level above,
in order to provide elevator access and a second means of egress to the floors above,
both for the convenience and use of the clients, of my client, and to comply with building code requirements.
Our notice of refusal is that the addition at the upper floors is not set back nine feet from the rear property line.
But again, as I indicated, the one -story portion that exists behind the building on both lots,
and you can see here, it extends all the way to the rear property line.
So the existing rear yard depth at the one -story portion that presently exists is zero, and that we will be filling in just basically above the one -story portions.
As mentioned, we do have a letter of support.
We sent the notices out, the 14303 notices out to, I believe it was 176 addresses after HACE was identified as a coordinating RCO by the Planning Commission in their email of July 27th.
You can see a copy of the notice right here. We did meet with them on October 12th via Zoom.
The notice provided notice of today's hearing, included a copy of the notice of refusal.
And here are the lists of the addresses to which that notice was sent and the certificate of first class mailing.
At the meeting, there were a number of both the members of the community group and members of the community
that were on the meeting ask questions we address them and again we have full support with no
opposition as indicated at the beginning by the chairman actually we have 20 letters of the 21
letters from the near neighbors that we provided 20 or letters of support and one is a letter of
non -opposition to be clear zoning drawings that were provided and submitted with the application
shows the where the existing one story portion is and where we're filling in above that with
the second and third floor and you can see here the section plan that shows that as well
the floor plans and you can see in the area of the existing one story we're going to be providing
another code compliant egress second means of egress which leads out to the existing rear yard
and then there's a gate that then provides access to that alley three foot wide alley between our
property and the solid wall of the property abutting us to the east. You can see the addition
of the elevator and then a bathroom in this area. That's down at the ground floor, up at the addition
area. So this is where it's existing right now, the placement of the staircase and the elevator
and the bathroom. And then at the addition, you can see the continuation of the staircase, the
elevator and storage at the second floor, and then the same thing at the third floor. By providing
this again this addition we're able to provide uh better access co -compliant access both by
elevator and by staircase and then by doing this and allowing this this addition with the renovations
we're able to keep the same amount of space about approximately um that we would otherwise have
without adding the elevator and the additional staircase that we presently have now so uh we're
not looking really to expand the existing occupancy. We're just looking to provide better
access and service both to the employees and to the clients. And here's a rendering of what that
And here's a rendering of what that addition will look like from the street.
additional will look like from the street. He's very much in case.
He's very much in keeping with the rest of the colorful building.
And again, just filling in what's above there.
The building to the east of us, again, it's just the sidewall of their building that faces the addition and faces the existing one -story portions that extend there.
The property is on CMX2.
It does have the nine -foot rear yard depth requirement at every floor.
it does permit the expansion of the use as indicated that was used of the social services
offices was originally approved as a matter of right you can see our property is located between
west east westmoreland and allegheny avenue west allegheny avenue you can see from the
photographs that i have right here that up north front street is a commercial corridor
here's the view to the south from the intersection with east westmoreland towards
west allegheny and you can see it's a series of mixed -use buildings commercial on the ground
floor some residences above it's coming up the other side this is the property that's located
on the opposite corner on the southwest corner supermarket on the northwest corner there's a
vacant building. That's in pretty bad shape, property. You have a mixed -use commercial
building across the street with the store and residences above. You have a vacant lot then to
the east of that mixed -use property with the store and the ground floor, and then some residences
extending to the east of us, including you can see on the bottom side, again, the abutting property
on the other side of the alley with the solid wall we did provide a tax clearance the up as i
indicated the updated tax clearance that was pulled last week but i included accidentally
included the older one that we pulled earlier on in this process copy of the zoning board hearing
notice for today's hearing posting photographs this they're at tab 16 posted both sides of the
property both the front street and the east westmoreland side with a copy of the zoning
notice as well as a copy of the notice of refusal here is the current deed it's a deed of consolidation
where those two parcels 32 63 and 65 were consolidated as indicated the buildings predate
them but they were breached at one point and the properties were consolidated and then the earlier
deed from the first deed after my clients purchased the property or when my clients purchased the
property in April of 1994. And that's a tab 17. Tab 18 is a copy of our appeal in the project
information form. And again, at tab 19, you have our notice to the community. So again, you have
an existing use that's a great benefit to the community, well received, well respected as
evidenced and indicated by the letter of full support from the community. The addition is
necessary to provide access to the updated renovations inside the building for the clients
and for the employees, and that there will not be any impact on appreciable impact or impact of any
merit upon the abutting properties surrounding us because there's a solid wall to the east of us on
the other side of the alley. Is there someone from APM here can adopt your testimony? Yes,
certainly. So I have Nilda Ruiz, who's the president and CEO. I have Chanel Hans,
who's the chief financial officer, and Razak Aziz, who's the senior vice president of asset
management. So if one of you could raise your hand and adopt my statements, please.
I can't see whether anybody has or hasn't raised their hand.
Jason, anybody up? Hands up.
Someone raised their hand up.
They had their hand raised again, but they put it down.
It should be under Nilda Ruiz, I think, is the identification.
They've been allowed to speak.
Mr. Orphanides, you're an officer of the court.
Mr. Chair, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but they've been allowed to speak.
okay fine yeah yes hi can you state your name and spell it please
um state your name oh can you hear us yes could you one of you please just state your name and
spell it please yes nilda ruiz n as in nancy i l d a last name ruiz r u i z okay thank you
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes proceed counsel uh nilda um please uh what is your position with a
Proceed, counsel.
Nilda, please, what is your position with APM?
I am the president and CEO.
And did you hear the statements that I made to the board today?
Yes, I did.
And they're true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And would you adopt them as your own?
Thank you.
And then I also have Alex Duller, who's on real quickly as the architect, just to adopt my statements regarding the architectural -related statements.
David, I think we're fine.
questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no no no mr chairman questions or
comments from the virtual audience i see no hands planning commission thank you mr chairman and
board members david vecto with the city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends a
change in the zoning at this location from commercial mixed use 2 to commercial mixed use
2 .5 the applicant has shown that expanding the existing non -conformity to bring the property
closer into compliance with the building code will have no adverse impacts on adjacent properties
and so the city planning commission recommends the board grant the dimensional variance
thank you mi 2022 004 624 32 63 to 65 north front street i vote yes carol tanari my vote is yes
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you. Have a nice holiday.
Okay, thank you very much. You too.
Number 10, MI 2022 004532 2821 to 31 Island Avenue.
Stephen Pollack is the attorney.
we do not have an RCO letter at this point. Excuse me, Mr. Chair. This is Hillary. We did
just receive the RCO letter. It's a letter of support from the Southwest Philadelphia
Consortium of RCOs. It came via the 40th Republican Ward, which there does the coordinating RCO in
this case. That's great. And how about our tax clearance? Mr. Pollack. Good afternoon.
good afternoon mr chairman members of the board uh steven pollock uh p -o -l -l -o -c -k like the
spelled like this street in south philadelphia on behalf of uh do you swear a firm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do mr chairman members of the board uh because
you identify your client yes my client is to the property my client is the tenant uh it's trinity
uh health systems mid -atlantic uh and their affiliate mercy management they are the same
entity that runs nazareth hospital up at home circle has saint mary's up at langhorne and mercy
fitzgerald uh this is a an area just one mr mr park just one minute the tax clearance issue is
this we are have an unresolved issue with the tax clearance i have mr robert brown who's the
Director of Financial Reporting with me today for Mercy Health and Trinity Health. If we could,
the board, at least maybe in the spirit of the holiday season, hear the case and hold your
decision until we can submit. I think not just the holiday season, but I think we do that all
the time. So our vice chair has a few questions for you. Do you agree to wave the reading of
the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed these in the packet with proof
of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal or referral photos under plans of the property
five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter
uh everything except as we mentioned the tax clearance madam vice chair also i have with me
today uh and he's will be able to speak i know the letter came in uh just a little bit before
the hearing, but Craig Maladosian, who is the chair of the registered community organization,
the coordinating committee, is here to also speak on behalf of the committee's and the group's
support of this application. I have with me also Gerilyn Patterson, who is our director of medical
practices for trinity health mercy management so basically i also would like to have because
i do not try and do both at the same time if nico realbuto my associate could be uh promoted so he
can share the screen and we can show you uh it's just for two accessory signs for uh this property
and Eastwick, Long Island Avenue.
Stephen, okay, it's my turn. You are proceeding. And can you please begin to share your screen?
Stephen, okay, it's my turn.
You are proceeding.
And can you please...
Yeah, I'm asking if you can allow Nico.
She can. She can. She can.
There we go. So this is the existing building at 2831. If you look at the lower portion where it says 1 .2, you can see that there's a big parking lot in front.
And in Island Avenue, we are set back, and we're on a spur of Island Avenue.
Island Avenue has at least two lanes of traffic going one direction, two lanes of traffic going the opposite direction, and a trolley that runs down the middle of the road.
But we are in this limited access spur, and we do have an aerial exhibit that we could show you.
show that before we get to that, here we are, that our building is set back more than a football
field away from even the spur road at 331 feet. So if we go back to our sign, what we want to do
is put up a flat wall sign up on the second floor where most of our offices are. We've
been in the building now since at least October of 2021, but have had to try and exist without
without any signage. And then what we'd like to do is if you go back to 1 .2, you'll see right along
the spur to the lower entranceway, we want to put a freestanding sign on a pylon. Nico, go to the
next plan, and we'll show you that. What's happening is Trinity Health Mercy Management is adding
additional practices to better serve the medical needs of the community, and they want people to
know what this is i know when i tried to find it i drove right past it because as i said it's off
on the spur uh so we believe we need the signage one of the interesting things is if you can go to
that last sheet which is our a49 a13 but it's page 40 of our 49 rather of our second segment
one of the things you don't get from the new refusals is the history of the property
What I want to show the board is that back in the day in 1981, the very lower one, the zoning board granted a variance to allow a building to be built there was a medical building.
And throughout the history, going through up to and including 1997, the zoning board granted flat wall signs and a freestanding sign, all accessory to medical offices building with accessory pharmacy.
This property at that time was zoned R5. It's currently zoned RSA3. What has happened over the years is that despite being zoned residential, the zoning board has recognized that the use to allow use that has set this up, as you can see from the photos.
And if we could show those photos again, that show you that this is a two -story office building, the only way we could ever get this to comply with the RSA residential district would be to tear it down.
So, therefore, we can't make it into a single -family attached district.
The zoning board granted back in 1997 freestanding sign and a flat wall sign.
And if you go to that picture that you had up, what happened was at one point Mercy was there years ago and left.
But what we have is a picture of what the old sign that was approved by the board in 1997 looked like.
Compare that to we're putting it back in the basically the same spot.
Compare that to what we have for the proposed pylon sign that will be double sided and interiorly illuminated.
it's it's in the same spot as the prior one and we're asking for the flat wall sign so we get it
we get refusals because you have to apply the rsa3 sign code to an existing property that has
been allowed to be commercial all these years uh and therefore we believe there's a hardship we
believe that these are the least minimum variances that could be asked for because right next door to
us in a picture. I think it's on our first segment. We had to break this into two segments
because you know me, I like to throw a lot of photos in. There's a Penrose Park shopping
center. That's in CA2, which is immediately adjacent to us. If you get to our zoning map,
You'll see, there's our zoning map.
The CA2 is down in this lower corner, next down here, Penrose Park is right there.
Then we get the Eastwick Libraries right next door to us.
Then we get the Eastwick Libraries right next door to us.
and then in the
And then in this RSA 3 area, that's where we are located.
And right next door to us above that in an RSA 3 is an adjacent medical building.
So the hardship that we are complying well within the limitations of the sign code of CA 2 are we are being refused because our sign should only be at seven feet high.
And we're at 15, I'm sorry, we're at 10 feet high for the freestanding sign.
We're only allowed, we are only allowed, I think, 15 square feet of signage in this particular district.
We have 48 .3, which is well within the 150 we would be allowed in the CA3.
And that same goes for the minimum sign for the wall sign where we've got 91 square feet, but we're being refused again for 15 square feet.
And as regard to putting it in the setback, we are just, again, affixing the sign to where the old base of the property was.
So we believe that this will not be detrimental to health, safety, and welfare.
the board in many years has recognized that this is a commercial property, even though the zoning
has remained residential. With that, I'd like to call up Gerilyn Patterson, who is our Director
of Management Practices on behalf of Trinity Health Mid -Atlantic and Mercy Management.
Could we promote her to? Sure. And she'll adopt your testimony, Mr. Pollack? She will. And then
And if I could, I promised Craig Melodosian, who is the chair of the coordinating RCO,
that to let Craig give you a chance to hear the perspective of the community.
And then we could then we could rest.
So we can get Geraldine.
I think she's just going to be on by phone, Mr. Chairman.
OK, do we see her? Has she raised her hand, Jason?
Not yet. No one's raised her hand.
Jarlene, are you there?
I'm there.
Or Bob Brown, are you there?
Why don't we...
Mr. Chair, I'm sorry to cut you off again, but I have a hand raised to my Robert Brown.
Yes, he's our Director of Financial Regulations.
Okay, and he can adopt your testimony, right?
He certainly can, Mr. Chairman.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, my name is Robert Brown, R -O -B -E -R -T, B -R -O -W -N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
or traveling on the Route 36 set of the trolley. They're not tied into print media or multiple
digital outlets, so the signage here is absolutely imperative. Probably unknown to the applicant,
we are currently dealing with another healthcare provider looking to put in another facility
approximately 5 ,000 feet north of this installation. We're hoping that they'll all be
able to integrate into comprehensive health care for southwest uh and not uh competitively attempt
to cannibalize each other so it is a concern that uh that mercy really get a good run here
and i think that this is a trinity house embodiment of their commitment to our community by going
beyond the hospital walls of mercy fitzgerald hospital so i wanted to make it known that we
absolutely in the fullest extent
support this application.
Thank you, Craig.
We appreciate it.
The owner is a church -affiliated
organization. I don't know if Pastor
Simmons is here today,
but he's been long committed to the
community, and I think he would join
in me in wishing this board
as well as the city
peace in Philadelphia and goodwill
towards all of us.
Thank you.
We appreciate it.
Questions from the board?
With that, I would move for all our exhibits to be accepted into the record, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
All right.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Excuse me, Mr. Chair, we have a hand raised from someone else under Stephen Pollack's name.
I'm not sure who it is.
Oh, I think what happened was Gerilyn Patterson.
Yeah, she went off.
She's fine.
That's fine.
We're good.
She got in through my name.
is there anyone else in the virtual audience there's no one else mr chair all right planning
commission thank you sir good afternoon mr chairman members of the board david effecto
city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends a change in the zoning at this location
from residential single family to commercial mixed use the proposed sign would be closer in
compliance with the zoning code under the proposed zoning so the city planning commission recommends
of the board grant the proposed variances.
Thank you.
We're going to hold a vote on this
until we have the tax certificate, okay?
It is very much appreciated.
Happy holidays to everybody.
Thank you, Mr. Powell. We appreciate it.
Enjoy.
Thank you, Sam.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
I just want to note that the record is otherwise closed
except for receipt of the tax certificate.
The record is closed except for the tax certificate.
Thank you very much.
Have a great day.
Bye -bye.
Number 11, MI -2022 -004 -650 -1525 Chestnut Street.
Melanie Lacey is the attorney.
Letter of non -opposition from the Center City Residents Association with enforceable provisos.
Okay, Ms. Lacey will be rejoining as a panelist, sir.
good afternoon mr chairman members of the board hi could you good afternoon could you state your
name spell please for the court reporter yes my name is melanie lacey that's m -e -l -a -n -i -e last
name l -a -c -e -y right 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 relationship to the property yes i'm accompanied
by David Wachnien, who is a member of the owner entity, DO Holdings USA LLC, as well as Christina
Dizik, who represents a tenant, Sonder, and I'm also accompanied by Michelle Klesik from Parallel
Architecture Studio LLC. Okay, our vice chair has just a few questions. Okay. Hi, do you agree to
waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? I do. Have you emailed the exhibit
packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and or
plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the URCO,
and do you have a letter? Yes, all of the above. Okay, great. You may proceed and begin to share
your screen. Are you seeing my screen at this time? Yes, I am. Okay, great. Thank you. So we're
here seeking special exception relief for two proposed roof decks located at 1525 Chestnut
Street. As mentioned, the proposed tenant and operator would be Sonder, which manages short -term
luxury apartment hotels, and there are a number of holdings here in the city.
So the visitor accommodation use was previously approved earlier this year,
but since the property is zoned CMX5, we must seek special exception relief for the non -residential
use of the proposed accessory roof decks. As mentioned, we met with the Center City
As mentioned, we met with the Center City Residence Association on October 25th, where the project received overwhelming support, and the CCRA submitted this letter of non -opposition, which I'm presenting here.
And the site is the historically designated A. Pomerantz building located at 1525 Chestnut Street.
It's at the center of the block between South 16th and South 15th Street.
And the property was previously the corporate headquarters of that furniture store, and it's been vacant for several years.
So if approved, it would be adaptively reused as a Sonder Hotel, as mentioned.
Here are additional photos of the property.
The street view.
This is the rear.
I'm just going to stop or pause for a moment because it looks like the images aren't showing.
Hold on.
okay let me share
okay are you seeing it once more it's up now yep okay i apologize for that
okay i don't know what's going on with the glitches so i'll just have to
make do without the fancy bookmarks. So once again, here is the rear of the property,
additional views of the rear of the property. And this is a view from the roof deck,
from the proposed roof deck area, and an aerial.
So, as you can see, so these are additional photos of the existing conditions actually,
and I'll show you the elevation. The roof decks are located on the eighth and tenth floor. It's
a small portion here right behind the cornice stone, and this inset portion that I'm hovering
over if you can see my mouse yeah on the 10th floor um and it isn't visible from the street
level uh because you have these elevator shafts that essentially block the view so um neither one
of the roof decks are visible at the street level that's something that i want to emphasize
and i'll go back to the floor plan so that you can also see the smaller uh roof deck which is
approximately 490 square feet as well as the larger roof deck which is this entire area that
I'm hovering over and it measures 1 ,435 square feet. And I'll show you the renderings. The roof
decks are elegantly designed, consistent with the Sonnet brand and this portion of Chestnut Street
you can see here. I'll show you a third photo as well. And I'll highlight the spaces won't be used
as a bar or nightclub. I know that's always a main concern. Hours of operation would be from
8 a .m. to 10 p .m. There would be no alcohol or food service. The roof deck will be an amenity
for guests at the property only, and common area furniture would be secured down.
You can see some of it here. The cleaners would maintain the outdoor area on a regular basis and
upon need, and the building is self -entry. So they have saw -till locks at the front door,
unit doors and amenity doors and these doors have codes that are uniquely generated for each guest
and those codes expire after their checkout time. So Sondra can control access to the amenity spaces
based on time and as mentioned the roof decks would close at 10 p .m. Sondra would turn off
access for the guests at that time and they can also see people moving throughout the property
you know there's plenty of security any incident would be captured and there's normal camera
monitoring systems on the exterior of the building. So that summarizes, I won't belabor
the point, that summarizes the application in conclusion. The roof deck won't be any more
negatively impactful for the surrounding area than any other roof deck use. It would be used
as a lounging area with limited hours of operation, no service of food or beverages, and it would not
be used as a club, it's not meant for large parties or loud music, and the project has
and the project has overwhelming community support.
overwhelming community support.
We'll go back to the letter.
You want to have somebody adopt your testimony?
Yes, but as a last point,
I'll say that it satisfies the standards of special exception,
accompanied, as mentioned, by David Joaquin to adopt my testimony.
So if you would promote him, he'd be sworn in.
to walking it's been allowed to speak okay could you state your name please and spell for the court
reporter my name is david walkney d -a -v -i -d o -u -a -k -n -i -n -e right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i swear proceed counsel david did
hear the testimony that i provided to the board this afternoon yes do you affirm that my presentation
was accurate yes do you adopt the testimony as your own yes thank you that concludes my presentation
questions from the board no mr chair no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments
from the virtual audience mr chair i have a miss michelle classic with her hand raised she is okay
hi could you state your name please and spelled for the court reporter
i bumped something i didn't mean to raise okay that's fine thank you that's fine
um questions from the board we're okay questions from the virtual audience
i have another hand up by mr wade albert sir okay hi could you state your name please and
spell for the court reporter absolutely wade albert w -a -d -e last name is a -l -b -e -r -t right
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do appreciate
thank you so i am counsel for the center city residents association i'm with the law firm
stevens and lee um i just want to reiterate that we do not oppose this project and we've asked for
some provisos that have been mentioned uh previously in this hearing um and if you i
read them into the record if you would like if not i think our liquor i i i will read them in
the record when when in fact we vote okay thank you mr chairman sure absolutely thank you um
anyone else in a virtual audience no those that are on my hands sir all right planning commission
thank you sir and good afternoon david facto city planning commission the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to in the commercial mixed use of zoning at this location the applicant has
shown that roof decks would have no more of an impact than roof decks would be expected to have
so the city planning commission recommends the board grant the special exception for roof decks
thank you MI 2022 -004 -650 -1525 Chesson Street I vote yes with provisos no food or beverage
service on roof decks no live or amplified music on roof decks no access to roof decks after 10 p .m
Carol Taneri, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with provisos.
James Snell, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
All right.
Number 14, MI 2022, 004538, 1839 South 23rd Street.
Joseph Consul is the attorney.
Applicant provided email from Point Breeze Community Development Coalition
indicating that the vote was 6 in support, 11 opposition.
They have a letter forthcoming.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
We did receive a meeting summary form from Point Breeze Community Development Coalition,
and it had a recommendation of support.
Mr. Consul.
Hello.
Good afternoon, board.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
It is Joseph Consul.
That's J -O -S -E -P -H, last name C -O -N -S -O -L -E.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Could you identify your client in a relationship to the property?
My client is Mr. James Brand, and he is the owner of the property.
Okay. Our Vice Chair, Carol Tenere, has a few questions.
Carol?
is she there it appears she dropped out um chair if you want me to do it mr chairman
Is she there?
please uh council good afternoon first of all good afternoon agree to waive the reading
of the refusal and stimulate to his accuracy yes did you email all other exhibits and documents
as required such as proof of ownership tax clearance copy of the refusal or referral
pictures or drawings of the property five days in advance to this hearing and did you
meet with the rco and do you have a letter yes tom i thank you please proceed and share your screen
that work
okay I am here
on let me get that right
South 23rd
Street my
client is Mr. James Brand
he is the owner of the property
property is at the corner of
and Mifflin Street. Here is what the property looked like prior to my client purchasing it.
This property is a 1 ,133 square foot property that is zoned CMX2. The reason why we're here
is my client purchased the property in 2019,
rehabilitated the property over the years 2020 and 2021.
All those permits are in Atlas
and has since that time been unable to find a commercial tenant
for the space in the front of the property
that's required to be commercial for CMX2 zoned properties.
So when he testifies later, he'll testify to his attempts
at finding a commercial tenant and how that's been unsuccessful
and the reasons for that, which I'll bring up in my presentation.
So it's one refusal, and that's to use the space set up
a commercial space as a living space. As mentioned, in November we went in front of the Point Breeze
Development Coalition and they voted in support of the project. They noted that the nearby neighbors
within a two -block radius as well as themselves and their zoning committee supported the project.
um the the opposition we uh was from uh the a different rco that was in attendance at at the
meeting but we believe that the letter and the vote um shows that the community itself supports
what we're trying to do here uh namely namely because um i'll flip over to atlas here um
the the last time that this property had any commercial use was as a grocery store
in 2006. And since that time, we believe it was vacant for approximately 10 years prior to
my client rehabilitating it. And it was just an eyesore on a block. And the reason I showed you
the previous photos is just to give you an idea of what it was like in 2019. And in a second,
I'll run through the photos of how it looks now. But it was an eyesore. It was sitting there.
um my client bought it and has been unable to find a commercial tenant um you know for for
reference the uh surrounding area is all rm1 including uh the majority of the corners uh
two other corners here are rm1 the next block um there the similar size property is uh zoned rm1
on the corner and so we're you know effectively seeking to to use the property as such with no
commercial use on the first floor. Again, there's our letter of support. 176 pieces of mail were
sent out for our RCO meeting. Here's plans or here's photos of the property, how it looks now.
This is the entrance to the unit on 23rd Street that we're hoping to have approval to use as a
residential space. Here's the space itself. My client did not fit this space out because he was
going to fit it out for a commercial tenant should he be able to find one and thus far has had no
leads as again he'll testify to. So that space is not rehabilitated.
He'll testify to. So that space is not rehabilitated. However, the remainder of the property is rehabilitated and is functioning as living space.
And I can show you that. Here's more photos of the outside. Here's a photo of the property from across the street that would show the entrance to the second floor unit on the right and the entrance to the downstairs unit on the left.
There's a property looking down Mifflin Street towards 22nd.
And again, another side angle.
So here's some of the work that was done on the interior of the property.
Just to show my client does a nice job.
I think principally one of the problems in finding a commercial tenant is the layout of the property.
And again, my client will testify to this, but it has a stairwell running that bisects the first floor and creates an approximate 464 square foot area.
In the front there, that's an unfinished space that I showed you.
He's unable to, in any kind of reasonable fashion, move the staircase such that he'd be able to create a larger commercial space.
And at that size, it's, you know, not even half the size that would be required for something like a retail space or, you know, a restaurant or other potential uses.
We included the floor plan of the second floor, showing the space as it exists now.
And also included our other documentation that's required, deeds, and the tax clearance.
again, as everyone mentioned, now lists the 2023 taxes as being due, but everything else
is zeroed out. So my client is compliant in that. So let's see. I'm going to, so we believe
the hardship is, my clients were unable to find a tenant for this space, and the space
just simply isn't isn't large enough uh and to continue to uh have to do that is going to we
believe force him to just keep the space as an unfinished space uh whereas the community came
out and said that they they wanted uh some action in in that area and they agreed with um the
variants that we were seeking so if i could call my client and have him testify quickly about his
after council can i have a quick question the second floor how many units one unit on the
second floor and how about the first floor well uh it's one full unit now and we're seeking a second
okay so it'll be total three units yes sir and the okay all right which is one one three three so
appropriate uh i'm gonna pull up his commercial listing and i'll have him uh testify to his
efforts here. James, could you raise your hand? He's been allowed to speak, sir. Hi, could you
state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter? Yes, my name is James Brand, last name
B -R -A -N -D. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes. Proceed, counsel. Good afternoon, James. Did you hear my testimony just now?
thus far? I did. Do you agree with it and adopt it as your own? Yes. I'd like you to just very
briefly speak to the board about your efforts in locating a commercial tenant in this space on the
first floor here. Certainly. So I've owned this property for about three years over that time
when I was renovating it. In that time, I have listed it for rent for several months. But before
that just between my contractor talking to neighbors and myself reaching out to the local
businesses just to see would there be any interest in relocating or if they had any other businesses
that were looking to locate into that area. My contractor even showed a few people locally that
were there just kind of what the dimensions of the space were. Like Joe mentioned, unfortunately
just given the dimensions of it, it's not a huge space so it rolls on a lot of options.
The goal was to find something like possibly a daycare or an office or a salon even or a convenience store.
A lot of those businesses already are in that area within a block or two radius.
So it's really hard to find anybody who wanted to move into that space.
So it's really been I mean, the listing has been up for quite some time and it's just it's garnered no traction.
and any attempts to find businesses that are already local to have someone move in there
to have someone move in there have also been unsuccessful um so it's it's really just been
have also been unsuccessful um so it's it's really just
it's been a tough go of trying to find a tenant that could use that space um so hopefully a lot
of the feedback that we have gotten um and certainly from the uh the people who have seen
the other apartments that were completed was that you know it would provide very usable housing as
a residential space which is certainly in line with what else is on that block um so that's
what we're hoping to accomplish here so hopefully fingers crossed we can make that happen so we can
provide that extra unit okay all right thank you mr brandon hi questions from the board no mr
chairman no mr chairman all right questions or comments from the virtual audience mr chair
Okay, I have a hand up from a number ending in 33552. Do I allow them to speak?
Please.
Understood.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Hi, yes. Yes, hi. Tiffany Green, concerned citizens, Point Breeze.
Ms. Green, spell your last name just for the purpose of the court reporter.
Yes, G -R -E -E -N
Alright, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
The whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do
Proceed
I'm calling up on the RCO
And we're opposing this project
Initially
I knew something
Went on with this project
Back in
March the 4th
This case was
denied the the applicant went for three up three apartments then and I believe
we opposed it then and at that time we had some resident support and so he was
denied the variance and he was approved for the two units and a commercial
because we wanted to keep the commercial on that floor at that time so the
initially then he came and asked he sent a letter for a reconsideration sometime around uh look like
around march 19 right before the city shut down for the pandemic my concern is that when he came
back this time he's never mentioned this he's never mentioned that this was a re this is a
reconsideration or he's coming through like this is a new project it is not and the reality is
there's no real hardship here uh he's already getting two apartments and the commercial piece
we have a lot of he could put a daycare there with that particular um uh it's right of course
from the school he could put like a daycare there uh that school closed down also there's other
professional offices needed in that area and we're asking the zb or dba board i'm sorry because i'm
out right now I got a mask on not prove this and maintain the not rezone this
there's no hardship here he state that he advertised but it was right before the
pandemic and we feel that the commercial piece at this area should remain the
same along with the two apartments and as the under the old under the other VBA
commissioner but i think the other commissioners were still there and they did not um they turned
him down for the variance and i'm asking if you could maintain the zoning in this area
were you at the rco meeting i was at the rco meeting and when he presented he never presented
this as um as the pro the project had been there before and i asked i asked him about it
and about this commercial piece and I was trying to remember so I thought he
came through before but I found the letter and information in my history in
my history and how he tried he tried to come back after being denied from the
board for a reconsideration but it was right before the committee dinner so I'm
seeing this point I would we would like to maintain the commercial in this area
We don't have a lot of commercial.
All right.
I'm sorry.
Thank you very much.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no further hands, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Counsel, you want to respond?
Yes, please.
I was not the attorney on the previous application, which was withdrawn at that time, which was two years ago.
He was unable to get a commercial tenant in the space.
He was unable to get a commercial tenant in the space, and I think that if anything, the two years that have elapsed since that time, over two years, two and a half years, since they withdrew the application, it was not denied.
That's even further evidence that this space is not viable as a commercial space.
We appreciate the position. That was the ancillary RCO that was in opposition then, and they still are now. But we feel like that's a reason to push forward.
again it wasn't a denial uh at that time um i was not i was not the attorney uh and uh it it was
with withdrawn and um attempts were made to to fill it and that has not been successful and
here we are attempting to to make it happen again so planning commission
thank you mr chairman and board members david fechtow city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in the zoning at this location from commercial mixed use
use 2 to commercial mixed use 1. This would relieve the applicant of their obligation
to provide commercial space on their ground floor. The proposed use is consistent with
the proposed zoning and so the City Planning Commission recommends the Board grant the
use variance. So MI 2022 004 538 1839 South 23rd Street I vote yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is no
James Snell, my vote is yes
Ismail Shahid, my vote is yes
Carol, you have your vote, the votes are there, thank you
Thank you board, happy holidays
Is there anyone from the 2 p .m. list whose case has not been called?
Sir, I have a hand up from Ms. Sandy Carter.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Wait a minute.
Hold on, sir.
Hold on, sir.
That person was using an older version of Zoom.
Hello?
Can you hear me?
yeah could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
sandy carter c -a -r -t -e -r do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth yes what case the case of 1220 to 22 north 41st street
mr chair those there's two those two cases are coming up on the 3 30 list yeah 3 30
we're taking a short break for the two o 'clock list we're going to take a five minute break
and we'll be right back in those cases we'll be called okay okay thank you all right sure
sure okay let's take a five minute break give our court reporter a chance and then we'll come back
and we'll get through the list. Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this afternoon's 3 .30
ZBA hearings. With me is Ishmael Shaheed, our board secretary. Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thomas Holliman, our board member. Present, Mr. Chairman. And James Snell, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Also here is Hillary Emerson, our attorney,
and Lakeisha Dandy, our ZBA hearing supervisor. Before we begin, here is our virtual format.
Proceedings are being recorded.
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting the Board Administrator, Tanya Sunkett, at phil .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
you. To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548. Leave your email address and the
address of the property in question. And finally, the question answer box on the screen is not for
comments or testimony. Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett.
to our Executive Director, Tanya Selkin. Let's look at our continuations on this afternoon's list.
Let's look at our continuations.
Number three, MI 2022 004 386 4067 North 3 Street. This case is continued.
Is there anyone has any comments relative to that case?
Good evening, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Hand. I do not see any hands.
Is there any other requests for continuance?
Once again, sir, I do not see any hands.
Okay. So on case number seven, I have no exhibits. This is the first listing.
MI 2022, 004 -682 -530 West Cambria Street.
Jose Cajas is the owner.
That is a first listing.
MI 2022 -004 -682, 530 West Cambria Street.
That case is continued.
And I also have a withdrawal.
Number two, MI -2022 -004 -387 -1513 -North 27th Street.
This is a request for withdrawal.
This case has been withdrawn.
We're going to go to our regular list.
MI -2022 -004 -388 -5039 -Spruce Street.
Cheryl Gasset is the attorney.
We have a letter from the Garden Court Community Association.
The vote at the meeting was 10 -0 -2.
Cheryl Gaston.
I'm on, Mr. Chairman, hold on, I'm trying to, when I was promoted analyst,
Bump me out a little bit. Hold on. I am going to start a video here. Good afternoon.
For the record, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Okay. My name is Cheryl Gaston. It's C -H -E -R -Y -L. My last name is Gaston. G -A -S as in Sam. T -O -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
i do uh mr hallman when you want to ask their answer ask a few questions
good afternoon counselor do you agree to read the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his
accuracy yes did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required such as proof of ownership
tax clearance copy of the refusal referral pictures of drawings of the property five days in advance
to this hearing? Did you meet with the RNCO and do you have a letter?
Yes, except for what was that you said, Mr. Chairman about the RCO?
I said there's a letter from the Garden Court Community Association.
You got it. Okay, then yes.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
all right uh could we advance my uh paralegal uh christine schlasser
yes yes he has been promoted sir thank you
right uh good afternoon members of the board this is an application by meharry 4904 real estate llc
my client is actually meharry bailey who's the principal of the llc uh and it concerns a request
for multi -family use at 5039 Spruce Street.
We have in our packet, if we go through it,
there's the deed, the zoning application,
if we go through the deed, zoning application,
the notice of refusal,
which was just for the multi -family use.
our application for appeal and project information form.
and project information form we have our tax clearance certificate
We have our tax cleaners.
and we have a site plan and a floor plan which i'll go through more a little later but
we have those and then uh we only have pictures of the exterior of the building it's not in the
world but uh but uh we did meet with the uh rco for the area which is garden put community association
and uh we had put in our packet the email that was sent contemporaneously with our uh zoning hearing
where they did uh vote to support the uh request of for multi -family use um so going back to our
our floor plan, what is proposed is, um, we're asking to have, uh, three units, uh, in this
particular uh building um we would have uh where is it there will be a uh uh three unit it's a
there'll be a split level unit on the first floor and basement which will have three bedrooms
two bathrooms with the living room dining room and kitchen and then two bedroom units on the
second and third floors with the living room dining room two bathrooms and a kitchen
the units will include the most up -to -date amenities including central air laundry pre -wiring
for internet and modern kitchens and baths. This project will help develop and improve the
neighborhood, and it's in proximity to public transportation, which makes this location ideal
for residential expansion, and it's in proximity to a community recreation center. It's actually
near YMCA and Malcolm X Park.
And we have a included, I didn't include in this, but what we're going to bring forward
is my justification here for multifamily youth here.
in actuality, this, our property is one of the, will be one of the last, almost the last
single family dwelling on this particular block. The only other single family dwelling on this
block is 5035 Spruce Street. The other, can you bring up the other exhibit, Christine?
Thank you.
my legal the legal argument the one that has the
ah there it is so um the property um
our property sits between uh 5037 spruce street which is a four unit condo building and 5041
spruce street which has eight units and uh with respect to the rest of the block 5049 spruce
is a triplex 5047 is a triplex 5045 is a duplex 5043 is a triplex as i said 5041 has eight units
50 -37 has four units, 50 -33 has four units, 50 -31 has four units, 50 -27 has four units, 50 -25 is a duplex, and 50 -23 is a triplex.
So basically, we have a situation where I don't know why, but this area was on RFA 3, which allows only single family use when the existing uses are.
which allows only single family use when the existing uses are almost entirely multi -family so
it's almost like the property was spot zoned by the planning commission here because there's no
reason why this property should have been zoned differently than all the surrounding uses which
are all multi -family. In addition, the effect of the adjacent and surrounding uses is relevant
where as here the effect of the rezoning creates the hardship i .e. makes the property have
either no value or just stress value if it's used in conformity with the code. To be able
to afford to rehab this property um you can't possibly do it if all you're going to do is to
use it for single -family use um so um what we are asking for is to of course use this property
uh for multi -family use which is consistent with um uh the rest of the block uh for the most part
except for that one property which is 5035 and uh uh i would like to then bring up my client
what's your client's name uh meharry bailey mr meharry
you've been allowed to speak yes i'm here hi could you state your name and spell please for
the court reporter? Mahari Bailey, B -A -I -L -E -Y. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Proceed, counsel. Okay. Mahari, did you hear
my testimony? Yes. And do you... Adopt it as my own. Yes. Swear affirming is accurate and
adopted as your own. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Okay. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Sir, Sean Thomas has their hand raised.
I have a lot.
It's time.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Yes, my name is Sean Thomas, S -H -A -W -N, T -H -O -M -E -S.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
Yes, I'm the owner of the condos right next door, 5037 Spruce Street.
And I fully support Mr. Mahari on this.
He does great stuff in the neighborhood.
I just wanted to, you know, chime in on that.
He does great stuff.
You know what?
Thank you very much for taking it to time to call it.
Thank you.
Yes, thank you.
All right.
Anyone else in the Verse audience?
No, sir, that's all.
Planning Commission.
uh ron bednar city planning first name ron r -o -n last name bednar b -e -d -e -n -a -r do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed ron this
property is uh indicated for residential use on a city plan or adopted district plan recommends no
change to the existing residential single family zoning at this location the applicant's hardship
is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances or condition in the property that
would prevent it from being used in conformity with the code.
Therefore, we recommend the request for it to not be granted.
Thank you.
MI 2022 -004 -388 -5039 Spruce Street.
I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Number four.
Thank you.
members of the board that completes my business. Thank you. You can. You can. Thank you. Thank
you. Happy holidays. Oh, thank you very much. And you too. MI 2022 -003 -690 -5856, Belmar.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney. No RCO letter at this point.
Mr. Anastasio has been promoted to panel. Okay.
good evening mr chairman hi just state your name we already you've already been sworn today sir
verne anastasio uh representing uh lensa desta the owner of the property in question
the owner of the property in question. Okay. Mr. Hallman, do you have a few questions for
okay mr hallman do you have a few questions for
I don't know.
Mr. Anastasio? Good afternoon, Counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to his accuracy? I do. Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required,
such as proof of ownership, tax clearance, copy of the refusal, pictures or drawings of the property
five days in advance to this hearing did you meet with the rco and do you have a letter
uh yes to everything but i don't have a
okay please proceed and share your screen thank you i believe i already shared my screen
yep this is the property here in question it is zoned single family residential but it's a
quite a large property it is surrounded uh this across the street here across uh
behind them on 59th street across the street at 5901 and 5900 all are mixed use and or
uh multi -family dwellings so i just want to make sure that you understand what we're dealing with
And with that, 5856 Belmar Street, we're asking for a three -family dwelling in an existing
structure.
We have the layout as submitted.
again this is a an above ground uh lower level so there's an entrance on the sides for a
open area open space living room dining room kitchen uh and then two bedrooms with a full bath
The first floor will be another large open area, living room, dining room, kitchen with two bedrooms.
We also have trash storage for all units already designed into the rear.
and we have a top floor as well with living room dining room kitchen
and two bedrooms and our full bath on the third floor
let's take a look at the the zoning map is uh mixed mixed use uh on every corner but ours
So our proposal is actually very consistent with the rest of those corners.
Now let's take a look at the property itself.
As you can see, it's a corner property with two entrances already in existence.
We have interior shots as well.
As you can see, here's the same king, multi -use, commercial mixed use, and or multifamily.
Here's another multifamily, all on the same corner, all on the same intersection.
so what they are proposing is certainly not um uh foreign to the to the neighborhood here's a copy
of the rco letter we mailed it out twice to 160 families and then did it again
and there is proof of taxes paid.
It's a large property
and to rehab it in a way
that it would be sustainable and successful,
a single family home
just isn't going to work here right now
given the marketing conditions,
given the history of the property,
given the other similarly situated properties
on each corner, all being multifamily or commercial mixed use, we are asking that the board grant the
variance so that we can rehabilitate this property and get folks in here sooner rather than later.
And with that, I'm going to ask my client, Lenta Desta, to raise her virtual hand.
Lensa Desta, to raise her virtual hand.
She's been about to speak.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter?
My name is Lensa Desta, last name D -E -S -T -A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Desta, did you hear my presentation to the board this evening?
Yes, I did.
And was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, it is.
And do you accept it and adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
planning commission
so ron bednar city planning the property is indicated for residential use on a comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the residential single family dislocation there's no unique
physical circumstances or condition of the property it would prevent it from being used
and conforming with the sewing code.
We recommend it quest for
variants of three dwelling
units not be granted.
We're going to hold a vote on this
until we see what we can get from the
We'll close.
Very well, Mr. Chair. My only
rebut to the Planning
Commission, and I appreciate Ron's
testimony, is that
a rehab
single -family home on this particular
block with its particular challenges
would just not be marketable.
But nevertheless, I understand you want to hold the vote.
Thank you.
We'll close this, Hillary, right?
Just to wait for something from the zoning board.
And why don't we...
Yes, Mr. Chair, why don't we...
Yeah, we'll close the record,
except for a letter from the RCO,
and we can vote it, how about January 11th at 2 p .m.?
That's fine with me, yep.
thank you thank you all
number five mi 2022 004 362 519 south 9th street matthew monroe is the attorney
no rco letter applicant advised rco of amended refusal
uh mr chair this is hillary we actually have an update um from that from this afternoon
we received um a letter there were two rcos that were involved in this case we received a letter
of non -opposition from South Street Head House District. We also received a letter of non -opposition
from Washington Square West Civic Association, and they also requested a proviso limiting the
visitor accommodation variance request to two years. Lastly, we received a letter of non -opposition
from Council Member Squilla with the proviso requested by Washington Square. Thank you.
Two years. Two years is what was requested, Mr. Chair. Okay.
Good evening, Chairman Bergman, members of the board. Could you state your name,
please, Mr. Monroe, and spell, please, for the court reporter? Happy to. Good evening,
Chairman Bergman, Matthew Monroe, M -A -T -T -H -E -W -M -O -N -R -O -E. All right. Do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify
your client and the relationship to the property uh yes um both my clients are here uh patty wong
is a managing member of the llc that owns the property and initially filed for the application
and petition for appeal okay for the physical accommodations and sally uh bingham who is the
owner of the the uh tenant the down mr monroe could you speak up just a little bit we're having
hard time just a little bit get closer sure sure and i also have sally bingham who is the um who
is the uh owner of uh sanctuary on second it's a uh a massage studio right and uh they're the
prospective tenant uh sally is here with us as well okay and uh just to clarify can uh can can
Can you see my screen?
I've got that.
I can, hold on one minute.
hold on one minute mr hallman do you have a few questions for good afternoon council do you agree
Mr. Holliman, do you have a few questions for?
Good afternoon, councilor.
i'm sorry mr hallman you broke up there do you do you agree to waive the reading
of the refusal and stipulate yes yes i do and all your appropriate paperwork has been sent in
I'll move on. Can you hear me? I'm having a little problem with my internet.
He's good. He's good. He's ready to go, Thomas.
Okay, good.
Yeah, and I did send in the paperwork five days before the hearing. I did, as Ms. Hillary Emerson.
Yeah, that's fine. Go ahead.
Yeah, updated it. So we have all the documents here, the deeds, the lease. And I just want to note that Ms. Wong filed the appeal initially. The building had been zoned commercially and there was a, she listed the use on the first floor as a professional office as it had been in the past.
so the amended refusal is states that it is for personal services in a massage studio
the board has already recognized that this property and i'll just show you this is a
property that was owned rm1 it has been but the board has already recognized that there is a
hardship on this property on two separate occasions the first time in 1994 there was a
first variance that was granted to build the building and to create a daycare for up to 50
up to 50 kids and then again in 2004 because there was an existing commercial space
there was another application for an infill development along with for a medical office
and a professional office and uses that were permitted in the ca zoning district at that time
and you can see here that that was also granted and the building itself was built out as a
commercial space. I'll show the board some photos for context. Here's an outside picture of the
building. This is the ground floor space. On the ground floor there's no kitchen, no laundry,
no basin. The reason why I'm explaining this to the board is because this building presents a
classic Hertzberg hardship where you have an existing building they don't have to go in and
put in a whole bunch of new infrastructure uh to retrofit the building to meet um uh the the zone
the requirements of an underlying multi -family zoning district it's an existing commercial space
it's always been used as a commercial space and the question of whether this is uh the least
modification possible uh to to provide relief from the code um number one um miss wong and her husband
will be running the Airbnb that's proposed for the visitor accommodations on the second floor.
It's just going to be a single unit. Ms. Wong is a, she's a CPA. She worked for the federal
government and she's retired. And her husband is a retired Philadelphia police detective.
They plan on running this together. They run a clean operation. And Sally, who has, as I mentioned
Port has a successful, highly professional personal massage studio right now on Second
Street, and it was coincidentally, I will say, I've been there myself, and it is a very
professional, relaxing environment, very quiet, and to get into the question of whether this
is the least modification possible, effectively, this is a down zoning from what the original
use was as a daycare um as you know there's pick up and drop off issues this will be a seamless
operation um uh then as i mentioned before the airbnb is going to have one unit it's going to
be run by a professional couple um and uh they're going to be doing all the cleaning themselves
they don't tolerate partying that sort of thing this is primarily set for families uh and that's
that's who they target with their marketing, and that's the customers that they receive
and that they expect to receive. We do have a tax clearance, as you see here, and we do have
non -opposition letters. I will say that I understand there was a request to limit the
two -year variance to two years by the Washington West Civic Association, as Ms. Emerson noted in
the preamble. Try to get closer to the mic, Matthew. Yes, sorry. I was just going to say,
I know that the Washington Square West Civic Association requested a limitation of two years
for the Airbnb. I would only ask that Ms. Wong and her
for the Airbnb. I would only ask that Ms. Wong and her husband have owned the building for
about six or seven years now, maybe longer, and she can correct me on that. They intend to continue
owning and operating it. So if there is going to be a limitation on time, I would ask that it not
be for two years, but it'd be sometime much longer, maybe six to eight years, because they do plan on
continuing to operate that. The head house district, which was the coordinating RCO, did not
request any limitation, and there was no limitation requested for the personal services
and massage studio. With that, I don't want to take up any more of your time. It's been a long
day. Do you have somebody to adopt your testimony? Yes. Ms. Wong, can you raise your virtual hand?
There should be a button, just a hand on your phone.
I don't know how to speak.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Hello, yes, my name is Patty Wong.
Can you spell your name?
Yes, my name is Patty Wong, W -O -N -G.
Right, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Did you hear the factual statements I made on the record?
Were they accurate?
Yes. I owned the property for 10 years.
10 years. Sorry. I thought that I might have been wrong about that. So you owned it for 10 years.
Were my statements, aside from that statement about ownership, were they accurate?
Do you adopt them as your testimony?
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
i do not see any further answers the chair no more no further hands thank you
planning commission this is around bednar city planning the property is indicated for residential
use on the city plan adopted district plan recommends no change the existing zoning at
this location the applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of any physical
circumstances or condition of the property that would prevent it from being used in performing
with the code both visitor accommodations and personal services are prohibited therefore we
recommend request variance not be granted um i understand my position if i could just make
one quick comment just to say that once again uh the evidence that we've presented is is
effectively the testimony but it uh this was a building that was built as a commercial use
Matthew, get closer to the mic. We're having a hard time hearing you.
Sure. This is a building that was built for commercial use pursuant to a variance and has always been used for commercial uses pursuant to a variance.
And we just simply want to continue that use.
Okay. Thank you.
So MI -2022 -004 -362 -519 -South 9th Street, I vote yes for personal services.
I vote yes for visitor accommodations with expiration date for a temporary variance of 1 -1 -26, three years.
thomas thomas holland my vote is yes with proviso jane snell my vote is yes with proviso
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes with proviso thank you counsel thank you appreciate your time
have a great night happy holidays excuse me mr chair did you um vote this with the amended refusal
i i probably did not okay i'm sorry
we'll go back one more time thank you so mi 2022 004 362 519 south 9th street
i vote yes for personal sir for personal services i vote yes for a visitor accommodation
with an expiration date of a temporary variance of 1 -1 -26 and proviso per amended refusal dated
10 -21 -22. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with provisos. James Snell, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with provisos. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Thank you.
Happy holidays, everyone.
Thank you.
Number six, MI 2022 -004 -389 -1221 -1222, North 41st Street.
1222 North 41st Street. Henry Clinton is the attorney. No RCO letter.
Henry Clinton is the attorney.
Mr. Clinton will be back in as a panelist.
Mr. Chair, we do have an update on this one. We do not have an RCO letter from the coordinating RCO, which was Centennial Parkside CDC,
see, but we did receive a letter of support based on the revised plans from East Parkside
Residents Association, which was an affected RCO. Okay, thank you.
Good evening, Mr. Chairman. Hi, Mr. Clinton, you have two cases, the last two cases of the day,
and what we're going to do is do them one at a time. We think they're a little bit different.
So could you identify your client and the relationship to the property?
for 1222. 1222. My client is Keith Sheed, S -H -E -E -D, and he's on the call. He is the owner
and developer of the property. Okay. Mr. Holloman has a couple quick questions for you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his
accuracy? I do. Did you email all of the exhibits and documents that's required, such as proof of
ownership, tax clearance, copy of the refusal, pictures or drawings of the property, five
days in advance to this hearing, and did you meet with the RCO and do you have a letter?
Yes, I have a letter from one of the RCOs.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you, Mr. Holliman.
did you see that Mr. Chairman it didn't come up yet Henry all right maybe a delay
maybe you have to go out and come back in again Henry that's what happened the last time we had
this okay I'll leave right and then come back in all right okay
Let's try it again.
Is that visible?
All right.
Let me go.
I'll leave the entire, I'll leave the meeting and then come back.
Okay, sure.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Jason, do we have to let him back in?
Okay, please.
Excuse me.
Mr. Clinton is on his way back in as a panelist, sir.
I'm back, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.
Let me start this again.
All right.
Thank you for your patience on this one.
So, good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Henry Clinton for the applicant, Kishi.
This is my presentation package containing exhibits AA through A11, which I ask to be admitted into evidence.
I'll run through each of them as are pertinent, and I'll concentrate also on the zoning records for this particular block.
The refusal, there are two refusals, but we've eliminated one refusal with plans that have been changed based on the feedback from the community.
we were able to set the house back equal to the front face of this other single house
or apartment building that exists on this block.
So by way of background, we're asking for three units in this property.
three units in this property. It's a long vacant lot based on historical records. It's been vacant
It's a long, vacant lot.
since at least 2004. Not only this property, but the property next to it. This property happens
to be on the corner right on 41st Street. We do have a letter from East Parkside Residents
Association. You'll see from my notice letter that I'll show you later on in the presentation
that we did notify both RCOs and Centennial was at the meeting, East Parkside was at the meeting,
and East Parkside has forwarded this letter of support only after we made certain changes to
the plans, which I will show the board. So just for perspective purposes, this is Parkside Avenue,
Memorial Hall is over here.
41st Street is right here.
And these are a number of vacant lots on the north side of 41st Street.
And there's also vacant lots on the south side of 41st Street.
The property is primarily multifamily in existence and those that have been approved within the last year, which I will show the panel as you move forward.
A closer perspective, 1222 is on the corner. 1220 is one property in. These are vacant lots. This is really the only house which faces 41st Street on this block between Girard and Parkside. This is a corner property, multifamily, but it faces Girard Avenue.
a closer perspective again here's a quadplex four -unit building we're at the very corner
this is a church across the street three stories another perspective just looking the opposite way
on the block showing you the existing four -family property and one of the refusals that we had which
which we eliminated originally our plan showed our house coming out closer to the sidewalk we
have since pushed it back 13 feet. So now the front facade of our building, if approved,
will match the front facade of the existing property. This is one of the new multifamily
across the street, directly across the street from this property that has been approved
within the last year. Proof of our zoning notices and our plans. We did make a revision,
as I said to you, Mr. Chairman, pushing the house back 13 feet. And by doing that, we actually
increased the open air space by a few percentage points. But at least it was a change for the good,
not only in pushing the house back, but also in terms of occupied area. So this is the proposal.
This is 12 -22. The next project I'll present is 12 -20. 12 -22 is on the corner, as I said,
and it's going to be a three -family dwelling.
When we met with the community,
there was some sense that the owner indicated
that these were going to be condominiums for sale,
that there were not going to be rental units,
and the community was pleased generally
that there would be home ownership opportunities
for people in the neighborhood.
It's close to transit.
It's close to Girard Avenue.
It's close to Parkside Avenue.
and we thought that this would be a good fit. We don't have any issues with regard to
height or open space. It's simply one of use. This property, incidentally, is zoned CMX1.
Again, commercial use on this corner doesn't seem viable. Gerard Avenue is more of a commercial
strip than 41st Street, and there are no other commercial properties on this block. At one time,
it was zoned CMX2 and recently was down zoned to CMX1. So this is the site plan indicating the
house has been pushed back to again match the front facade of the single four -family property
on the block. Floor plans, I can go through the floor plans. I'll start at the top, work my way
down. This is the roof deck on the top providing access for the inhabitants on the third floor,
which is on a two -bedroom unit. On the second floor, another two -bedroom unit. And for trash
purposes, you can see that there's a trash closet for both the second floor owner as well as the
third floor owner. And then the final unit will be on the basement of first floor. That would be
a three -bedroom unit, and it also has trash storage and also access to the rear yard.
We have a tax certification and the other pro forma documents you typically see
in a presentation such as this. This is the zoning map indicating that the lot is
in a presentation such as this. This is the zoning map indicating that the lot is rather small.
It's actually cut in half. The back end is a different lot owned by someone else,
but we still managed to meet the open air requirement and rear yard requirements,
despite the smallness of the lot at the corner.
What I did want to show the board was, it's our certificate of mailing, but our zoning record. So
On this block right now, there are five multi -unit properties.
One is eight units, one is four units, one is six units, the other four units, and then a duplex.
Some of these units, eight dwelling units, were approved within a year.
One was just approved in 1221.
That's 1203.
It's not under construction yet, but it will be.
This property is 1204.
And this is four family.
This is 1213, six family.
Again, this was approved last year, July of 2001.
This is 1216.
This is four apartments.
And then finally, 1217.
this is a two -family dwelling and then 1217 this is also a multi -family a two -family dwelling
so we have a situation with the cmx1 zoning uh qualification we've eliminated one refusal
we are in a block which is predominantly multi -family in fact i don't think there's
any single family properties. I know there are no single family properties on our side of the
street and across the street. And I'll go to the aerial photographs. Across the street, there's
also vacant lots. This is a property which, again, funds on Girard Avenue and doesn't fund on 41st
Street. So our project is not affecting the light and air of any adjacent property. It doesn't alter
the essential character of the neighborhood or the block the block is in fact a multi -family block
we are not impairing the development of any adjacent property and we're in harmony with
the code generally so with that i'd ask my client to unmute himself keith if you can
i'd ask you to adopt my testimony
hello can you hear me yes
Hi, my name is Keith Sheed, K -E -I -T -H -S -H -E -E -D.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, Mr. Kahn.
Mr. Sheed, were you on the call when I presented your project?
If you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Thank you, Mr. Sheed.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair, I have a Sandy Carter with their hand raised.
Understood.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
I have to promote Ms. Carter to a panelist because she was using an older version.
Good evening.
My name is Sandy Carter.
Hi, how are you?
I think I swore you in once before.
Yes. I'm the same person. I waited patiently.
So proceed, ma 'am.
Okay. The first thing I'd like to say is I attended the original RCO meeting, and I am a resident of East Parkside for over 50 years.
Okay. The CDC RCO is the one who had the meeting, and it was heavily opposed.
There were several issues raised, and a lot of it had to do with the multifamily units.
They were presented as condos, and we do not want any condos in our area because we're trying to keep the integrity of our community, and we want single -family homes wherever possible.
that building that he showed the picture of across the street was built there only because
the pandemic was going on and the residents didn't know anything about it
if you look at it from the view of the whole block
If you look at it from the view of the whole block, it does not fit with the integrity of our community.
We are in a historical residence area and we would like it to remain as such.
And the RCO can show you the letter of opposition from the CDC.
It was never approved.
Okay. Ms. Carter, are you aware that we revised the plans and that we had back and forth on
the support? No, I wasn't, sir, because I only attended one RCO meeting. I was not aware that
another one had taken place. But I'm not saying another meeting took place. I'm just saying that
we revised the plans in response to the opposition and then resubmitted it because there was a
lot of opposition. There was comments about multifamily use, but there was also comments
about the fact that the house should be pushed back, which we have done. I'm just bringing that
to your attention. That's all. Okay. Well, I appreciate that. But like I said, we were never
re -informed that negotiations were being met other than with the community. So I would recommend
in that you bring your new proposals back to the RCO so that the whole community can vote on it
that's the proper thing to do Mrs. Carter thank you for calling in we appreciate it and I would
say Mr. Clinton has another case that's coming up and your testimony would be the same for that
right correct right okay thank you very much anyone else in the virtual audience
i see a mr jihad ali i have allowed them to speak
mr ali state your name and spell for the court reporter please
my name is jihad ali j -i -j -d -a -l -i right do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth all right fine proceed so uh as uh as the counselor indicated we did have
the meeting i apologize i can't bring my photo up uh instead of the uh pp equipment on but uh
we had a meeting and the uh the as the as the attorney said we had had some reservations about
he was up on the property line we asked him to push the building back we had some concerns about
uh the overall look on being on the property line we met with the developer uh we talked to him the
issue uh as Ms. Carter pointed out you know um a lot of people just can't weren't grasping the
concept that a condominium is home ownership um it's not a rental it is a it is home ownership
it is a way for a person to accumulate wealth um and there are there is a market for people that
want to be in a neighborhood that want to stay and want to have a sense of home ownership so we
encouraged this developer to um to because it was home ownership we wanted to work with a developer
like that as the lawyer pointed out we've been through this zba process numerous times as he
pointed out 12 13 11 32 11 30 11 33 4105 gerai 1203 1204 those are all things that we were opposed
yet we lost so we started thinking well let's let's look ahead and let's try to change our
strategy and let's work with developers that are going to build homeownerships we first started
with one developer came in the neighborhood and he built two single family homes for uh in the
40 40 100 block in cambridge and they sold they were four barrel units they sold for 400 000 so
we knew we wanted to try to get the cost lower so we could work with a developer that was willing
to do condominiums that will make more affordable we wanted to support them and that's why we
support them on this and also i want to mention we're working with the councilwoman uh she just
has transferred 39 properties into the z into into the land bank for future home ownership
but we want to be able to maximize home ownership and the condominium concept is something that we
we're going to embrace again so for that reason we supported this project thank you thank you
for your call, Ms. Rowley.
Anyone else?
I see no further hands, Ms. White.
Planning Commission.
I'm sorry, Chair, to interrupt you,
but Ms. Arlisa Carter has her hand raised.
I have a lot of speak.
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
Ron, wait one minute, Ron.
Ms. Carter, come on back on.
Ron Bednar, City Planning.
One minute, Ron.
hi hi can you hear me yeah i can my name is arlesta carter right i'm also spell your name
can you hear me yeah i can
please for the court reporter a -r -e -l -e -s -t -i -a carter right i am also a lot of minute wait a
minute wait a minute do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do proceed i attended the meeting also in the community for the rco and the lead rco at the
time was centennial parkside cdc and originally apartments were presented
uh when the community seemed to oppose all the overcrowding of having so many
so many apartments in one place condos were kind of introduced
now condos really threw us for a loop as residents because
we we we were against the overcrowding one then to throw condominiums in the mix
we don't have condominiums in our community uh condominiums we weren't really in favor of
the leadership there are a few people who have leadership positions a few people
who represent the community but they're not they they represent but the majority of the community
was against this and i strongly recommend that we come back before the community with this
condo business because okay we were we were against that okay we were totally against that
not that we don't we want to see building in our community but
we're being overwhelmed with quite a few things that we didn't welcome into the community. Most
of the homes were originally on this block were single family homes. And the construction people
are inundating our community. We're getting blows from every direction about changing it
and to multifamily homes.
And it's a big, it's a lot.
It's a lot.
And the rebuttal.
Ms. Carter, I understand where you're coming from
and I understand your position.
And I appreciate your calling and let us know.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I miss Roberta Connor Leahy with her hand raised, sir.
hi could you please state your name and spell for the court reporter roberta r -o -b -e -r -t -a
lighty l -i -g -t -y connor c -o -n -n -o -r roberta lighty connor do you do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes proceed okay i just wanted to make
a statement um about condos okay condos are considered home ownership number one number two
the owner of each individual um apartment have a right to rent out their space or their condo
or whatever uh we're calling it a condo now the whoever buys that they have a right to rent it out
as if it was an apartment because that's what it is you're really buying an apartment
I just wanted to make that clear okay well thank you thank you for your call and we appreciate your
input is there anyone else in the virtual audience mr keith she has his hand raised against her
who is the key sheed
the the owner of the property i believe so yes henry do you want him to testify again
you're fine do you want him to testify he can speak yes okay bring him on hello
yeah proceed no i touched the button by accident i apologize okay fine that's fine
all right planning commission this is uh ron bednar city planning for the bacon property at
This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.
The vacant property at 1222 North 41st Street is currently indicated for commercial mixed use on the city plan.
one, two,
Given the prevalence of multifamily residential development in the immediate vicinity, we recommend the request for fairness for granted.
Mr. Clinton, I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to take this back to the board
in an executive session and just talk about it a little bit.
Understood, Mr. Chairman.
That's what we'll do with this. Why don't we move right to the next one?
Excuse me, Mr. Chairman.
Excuse me, Mr. Chairman.
We'll see where we stand.
Excuse me, Mr. Chairman.
Pardon me?
Excuse me. This is Tom Holloman.
Did the council say, did he have a letter from the RCO or he does not have a letter from the RCO?
He had.
So what happened was there was a second RCO involved.
The second RCO gave him a letter of support.
The first RCO from last, never sent anything in, Tom.
He does have one.
But I think this whole thing we should just sit and talk to.
And I think the next one will bring the same issue.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We'll, I guess, let's take two weeks, Hillary, okay?
And we'll bring this to us.
We'll need to bring it back January 11th, Chair.
Okay, that's fine.
We won't have hearing for the next two weeks.
All right.
Henry, why don't you proceed with MI 2022, 004 -390 -201220 North 41st Street.
We know who your owner is.
We're fine. So why don't you start with that one?
Mr. Chairman, does he have to be read the exhibits?
Do I have to give him the...
We could, but I think it's the same thing as the last one.
But go ahead, Tom.
Do? Okay. Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required, such as proof of ownership, tax
clearance, copy of refusal, pictures or drawings of the property five days in advance to this
hearing?
Did you move to your RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, all of the above.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Holman.
is that visible mr chairman yeah well i'm fine yep what's good uh good evening again henry
clinton for the applicant keith she the same owner as the prior project um and a lot of my
comments will be redundant uh concerning my comments with 1220 which is the property next
door this is my exhibit package containing exhibits aa through a11 which i ask be admitted
into the record. The refusal is basically similar to the one on the corner. This is a much larger
lot. This lot is over 100 feet deep, and the refusals are basically the same. First was a
front setback refusal, which we've cured after we met with the community because there was such an
outcry against changing the look of the block. The second refusal has to do with use. This is a
request for a six -unit building on 1222. Again, we have a letter from East Parkside Residents
Association in support of the project, and we did ask initially that the property would be used
for condominiums, that's the mindset of the owners. I mean, I don't know why someone mentioned
that we were going to do apartments. It was always going to be condominiums. My clients believe that
if they do condominiums, it'll make it affordable for people to live and own and build equity in a
property, as Mr. Ali said earlier in the other testimony, in the other case. So again, we have
a long vacant lot very deep on a block that is all multifamily. There's one multifamily on the
same side of the street. It's a four -unit property. These homes are 18 feet wide. To have a single
family home would be a very, very large home. That's why you see most of the houses on this
block are multifamily. Photograph again showing you the vacant lots on the block, the two larger
Photograph again showing you the vacant lots on the block.
The two larger properties on the block both face Gerrard Avenue.
This is another perspective showing you this is the interior lot at 1220.
This is the house across the street that I referenced in the prior presentation.
This is a multifamily, which was just constructed.
Our zoning notices are here.
The plans.
We do have a proviso if the board looks kindly upon this application, because again, not to overdo it, but we did move the front of the house back 13 feet, and this was able to increase the open space minimally by almost 2%.
This is just showing outline of where 1222 would be.
This is the elevation. The property to the left is 1220. 1222 is on the corner.
floor plans are similar to the other floor plan where we have six units we have a unit in the
basement uh one on the second floor front and back third floor front back which equals uh six units
i don't want to belabor the point mr chairman but basically uh the zoning map which i showed
you already has cmx1 on the corner excuse me mr clinton uh this is hillary i think you have the
packet for 1222 pulled up instead of 1220 let's see on that i did notice the one said 1222
Me too.
All right, let me go back to that then.
There it is.
Sorry about that.
So the photographs and the refusals are the same.
Multifamily use, six units is prohibited.
it. Front setback, as I mentioned, we did push the house back 13 feet. This is the same letter
from 1222 as it is for 1220. Photographs are the same as the other project. I won't go through
them, Mr. Chairman, being that this is the last meeting of the year. All right. Thanks,
Thanks, Ms. Emerson, for pointing that out.
So basically, this is a cross -section of the property.
In between the property is going to be a courtyard.
There's rear space for yard, and there's front space for front porch area.
The idea is there's one unit is in the basement of first floor.
Second unit is the second floor, and there's a unit on the third floor, one bedroom.
And then in the rear of the property, it's connected via a walkway.
Fourth unit is the basement of first floor.
Fifth unit is on the second floor. Sixth unit is on the third floor. The top units have access to a rooftop deck. Unit one and unit four have access to outdoor space in the courtyard. This is an aerial top -down view just to show this stone area is the open space. This is the open courtyard between the front and the back connected with a stair tower.
So, Unit 3 and Unit 6 on the third floor, one bedroom in the front, two in the back.
On the second floor, one bedroom in the front, two in the back, and then Unit 1 has two bedrooms.
Since this is a separate presentation, I will go through briefly.
the other properties on the street and their uses.
So again, we have multifamily uses at eight units,
which is two more than they're proposed here at 1220,
four units at 1211, six units at 1213 units at 1211.
four units at $1 ,211, six units at $1 ,216, and two units at $1 ,237.
I don't know that you want me to go through each of the backup materials, Mr. Chairman.
I think we have that information.
So basically, in summary, we have long vacant lots on the block.
This is a very large lot, over 100 feet, 18 feet wide, very large for a single -family home.
And that's probably one of the reasons why there aren't any single -family homes on the block.
It's multifamily, and we're trying to keep in character with the block.
It's adjacent to public transit on both Girard Avenue and Parkside Avenue.
We're not affecting any lighter air with any adjacent property.
We don't have any issues with open space, rear yards, or height.
And we're in harmony with what the neighborhood wants, which is home ownership.
And that's my client's goal.
With that, you're...
I want to bring your client on, adopt your testimony, and then we'll...
Mr. Sheed, can you unmute yourself, please?
Hello?
Hi, Mr. Sheed, you've already been sworn.
Just state your name for the record.
Keith Sheed, K -E -I.
Proceed, counsel.
Mr. Sheed, were you on the call when I presented your project to the board?
Yes, sir.
If you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
Yes, sir.
Thank you, Mr. Sheed.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I have this Sandy Carter on the line again with her hand raised.
hello again thank you for taking hi miss carter i you know i when you testified before i said
would you have the same testimony and is your same comments somewhere for this property no
all right go ahead as a matter of fact Mr. Chairman I have a very important question I would
like to ask you me okay yes if you don't mind well I'll try I don't know if I can answer but
go ahead okay the question is if you have an RCO meeting and there was a vote given and it was
opposed to does a different RCO that was not the one who presented the original meeting had the
right to come in and write a letter on their own? Listen to me. I think the only thing that we can
say is we have to work with what we have. The only letter that we have is the RCO that's in favor of
it we don't have a letter from the past rco the cdc when they did theirs so at this point the only
thing we have is where we are okay but we've taken your testimony and we've taken several other
people's testimony and we're listening to what you said okay right because the whole thing was
misrepresentation stated they said it was supposed to be apartments and then come to
found out it was condos that's misrepresentation okay all right okay but i i hear you and and
again thank you for calling in again okay thank you for taking my call oh absolutely is there
anyone else in the virtual audience mr jihad lee is there i i have a lot of things sir mr ali
Yes, thank you. I just want to, the only different thing I wanted to say was that, Mr. Chairman, as you pointed out, the coordinating RCO, which was the centennial, had the responsibility to send in the tally.
We were participating, another RCO, participating RCO, and the records are clear. So we sent in our recommendation based on what we felt.
I do want to also say it wasn't just anecdotal that these guys are condo developers, that we went out and looked.
In fact, that's all they do is do condominiums.
So it was just a miscommunication that when they first started, Mr. Shadi Keith, he has stated apartments.
But he actually, through whatever way, got tongue -tied.
It really was condominiums was what they were talking about.
So that's how it all happened.
And thank you for coming back on.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
it's roberta connor why oh wait well i thought the hands were raised but okay proceed
Well, I thought the hands were raised.
Proceed.
State your name, please.
Hello.
My name is Arlesta Carter again.
Ms. Carter, you've already been sworn.
What would you want to add, Ms. Carter?
My testimony, it is the same.
But I wanted to also note that we don't have, this community is not a community that has condos in it.
I just wanted to.
Okay, that's fine.
Thank you.
Thank you for your input.
We appreciate it.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
Jesus Christ.
Ms. Roberta Connor.
Hello.
Hi, Ms. Connor.
You're already, wait a minute, Ms. Connor.
You're already sworn.
What do you want to add to your testimony?
I just want to be clear that when because I keep hearing the term multifamily and condos now or is it condos or multifamily because just my opinion there's a difference when you say multifamilies you're talking about someone that owns the building that is going to rent out the apartments.
But when you say condos, you're talking about home ownership of an apartment, which they two coincide.
So I want to be clear.
Ms. Conner, we're talking condos.
And I don't want to get into definitions.
Mr. Chair, do you want me to, I can answer this very quickly.
Go ahead.
Yes. So under the zoning code, if there are multiple dwelling units at a property, it's considered multifamily.
It doesn't matter whether they're rental units or condo units.
The zoning code does not make a distinction when it comes to ownership.
It just has to do with whether there are multiple dwelling units at a particular property.
Thank you, Hillary.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Ms. Conner, for calling again.
planning commission this is uh ron bednar city planning the break of property at 1220 north
41st street is indicated for residential on the city plan given the proposed amendments to be
signed a new building to eliminate dimensional refusals we recommended the the variances be
permitted provided that both revised facades at 1220 and 1222 match the existing buildings on the
block. Thank you, Ron, for your input. We will again vote on this on the date that Hillary gave
us originally. Mr. Clinton, thank you for your input and thanks to everyone else who called in
for this and we we appreciate all the time and effort into this and just for the record mr chair
that that date was january 11th okay january 11th and the um the record is otherwise closed in both
closed okay thank you um is there anyone in the audience from the 330 list that case has not been
closed. I see no hands, Mr. Chair. Okay. Look, thanks, everyone. Sorry it went a little bit
longer than it should, but hey, we're going to have a nice holiday here, and I want to wish
everybody involved a happy holiday, and the whole zoning board appreciates the staff
and the planning commission and everyone else who works with us on a day -to -day basis,
and let's have a good holiday and get ready for next year okay thank you everyone