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good morning everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this meeting of the
Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustments. With me is our Vice Chair, Tanetta Graham.
President, Mr. Chairman. Our Board Secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston.
President, Mr. Chairman. Our Board Member, Taya Nguyen, I think is en route here. She'll be here
any minute. And our Board Member, Ryan McAdams. President, Mr. Chairman. Also, here is our
Attorney, Hillary Emerson, our Zoning Board Director, Ian Haggerty, and our Board Administrator,
Lakeisha Dandy. Recording of the hearing will be posted on the ZBA website
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So let's look at our schedule for today.
um number one mi 2024 001 941 uh 53 15 to 17 chancellor street um we do have a request
from council member gothier's office relative to a continuance is um sean whalen present
good morning mr whalen
please state your name it's bell for the stenographer
l-e-n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do okay is anyone from the gothy uh council member got the a's office or the
west philadelphia economic development council on the line
okay mr william are you ready to go on with this case we're ready to go on with the case okay so
what we'll do is we'll hear the case but if you would just sit the front row there because i i
think you're scheduled to go first okay okay all right thank you very much um number four
mr masters i think you're number four am i right
so number four
MI 2024
006 832
4238 Viola
Street Meredith Ferlicker
is the attorney for the owner
good morning good morning counsel could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
meredith ferliger f-e-r-l-e-g-e-r do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do yes mr masters could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
good morning mr chair members of the board steve masters s-t-e-v-e-m-a-s-t-e-r-s do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do all right so mr masters
we have a continuous request from the council member person we also have a continuous request
from your client the rco yes could you give us the status of where you stand on this um sure
so as you know there was a protracted hearing um on this i think i remember very well
and um at the very very beginning of the process there was one rco meeting that rco meeting was
supposedly to address both the 16 multifamily units and the 50 people living in a group living
situation however at the at the hearing that at the at the rco meeting that occurred
there was literally no details or any specifics given about the group living. We were just told
that there is a second application for group living. There was no definition of what kind
of group living. There were questions that were asked by RCO participants at the time,
what is it that you're trying to do here? And they basically blocked any information from
coming out. Just last Friday, we received an exhibit binder from the applicant, who for the
first time is providing us with some, but not very much, information about what type of group living
they're looking at. We were unable to properly prepare for this hearing today because we had
no information of what um we we still mr chair and members of the board we still literally don't know
We still, Mr. Chair and members of the board, we still literally don't know where these people are going to be coming from, what their situations are, whether they're recovering from drugs, whether they're homeless, whether they're young people.
We have we literally have no idea. So we had a we've had we actually are also speaking with the applicant in terms of trying to settle this case, because these cases, this case went on for quite a long time and it could go on even longer into the into the court systems.
And last night we asked Mr. Yakubov
if he would agree to a continuance.
He said no, he would not.
We also asked him if he would agree
to only present his case today
and then we would present our case in a follow-up,
which I believe is something that this board
has been agreeable to many times in the past.
He doesn't agree to that either.
So we are asking either for a brief continuance
which would be on another another Tuesday so that we can properly prepare or in the alternative to only allow the applicant's case to go forward today and then to have a resumption hearing for our side.
Thank you. Meredith, could you respond, please?
Certainly. Mr. Chairman, as you know, this case was filed almost a year ago at this point and has been continued for nearly a year's time to allow the concurrently filed and recently denied case to conclude.
So it's our position that Mr. Masters and his clients had more than ample time to request another meeting specifically for the purpose of discussing this application or anything else, and quite frankly had an equal amount of time to ask this board to compel another meeting at any number of the prior continuance requests that were made and granted for this particular application,
which we submit as entirely distinct and independent from the last one that you heard.
Now, on the subject of the RCO meeting that was held a year ago, it was not only advertised as being, you know, to be heard about both applications,
but the presentation that we gave also included information on both.
And in fact, we had indicated to this board that there was a clear difference of opinion stemming from that meeting, from all of the discussions that were held.
And if the board requires it, I would be happy to bring up a copy of the RCO presentation packet that was given at that meeting, where you'll see that it's very similar to the information being provided to this board today.
So while we understand that they were unsatisfied with the information that they received, that is not a basis for this board to allow for further delay, particularly in light of the fact that they had over a year's worth of time when they could have asked for a continuance or they could have asked for any of these administrative matters to be worked out prior to 945, the morning of the hearing.
We do also have commentary on Mr. Masters' request for a resumption. I was planning to handle that during my case. So I'm assuming you just wanted me to address for now the continuance.
That's right. All right. Thank you very much. We're going to continue the case. It's going to be continued to 2-24-26 at 9.30 a.m.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you both.
Thank you.
Number seven.
MI 2025-003-745-1-Dock Street.
We have no exhibits from this.
The case has been around for a while.
Is there anyone from Mr. DeMarco's office here
or Society Hill Towers Owners Association.
Do we see any hands?
Okay, so MI 2025, 003-745-1-Dock Street, I vote to dismiss.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is to dismiss.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is to dismiss.
Iowyn, my vote is to dismiss.
Ryan McAdams my vote is to dismiss thank you very much number eight MI 2025 003-892-7137
7137 woodland avenue this case has been withdrawn are there any other requests for continuances
Woodland Avenue this case has been withdrawn are there any
yes chair we have mr joseph console with his hand raised i'll promote him to panelists
morning board good morning mr council council could you please state your name and
and spelled for the stenographer? Joseph Consol. That's J-O-S-E-P-H-C-O-N-S-O-L.
Your case is MI2024-006693, 7200 Summers Road. Could you give us an update?
Yes. We were here in October. The applicant amended his plans based on the RCO meetings.
we got their thumbs up we submitted the amendment however we did not get the
amended refusal yet because the engineer has not he's working with the streets
department to get the curb cut approved and we still have not gotten there yet
and per the email from the city attorney which I'm looking at now from I guess the
proceed today with our minute refusal. All right. Thank you very much. So MI 2024-006-693-7200
Summers Road. Cases continue to 224-26 at 9.30 a.m. Thank you very much for calling us.
Okay. Case number one. MI 2024-001-941-5315-17 Chancellor Street. Mr. Whalen is the
uh council you've already been sworn just for the record state your name sean whalen here for 53 15
to 17 chancellor street on behalf of forever valuable llc and i have with me the uh calvin
rivers the owner and applicant our vice chair has a few questions for you sir
good morning um have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
Yes, they were.
And do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, we do, with the understanding that it was an amended refusal.
All right.
Thank you.
You can begin.
Thank you, Chair.
Very quick.
I will be.
Hold on.
Hold on.
Here's what we're going to do.
But this is a resumptive hearing, as you well know.
It'll be an update from you, right?
Yep. Questions from the board. Questions from our attorney. Questions from the public and planning commission recommendation. OK, so give us an update.
Thank you very much. Yes, this is a resumptive hearing. You may recall this matter was heard briefly and then there was a determination that an amended refusal was necessary.
So just very quickly, we're talking about a very small 670-square-foot existing lot, which is actually the former rear three-car garage of a commercial warehouse, a block south of Walnut in between 53rd and 54th.
So this image that you can see right now kind of gives you an understanding.
um you know it's a very small fully walled lot on all sides um it's rm1 but there are no
utensils with regard to that uh this is really what we're talking about here so you can see
um there's a an existing commercial garage this goes block to block
right next to us that's the green and brick the fence is our property you can see it's fully
walled in with about 15 18 foot walls on all three sides the property is only 23 feet deep
it's 28 feet wide there was formerly a three-car garage there that had to be torn down
so again i i don't think i need to belabor the point but i just show this to show you know you
have these existing party walls encircling the property. So what we have is Mr. Rivers here
looks to build himself a personal home and is, you know, trying to do that. This is a small house.
What you have is we have two use refusals. There's an existing curb cut. And there was,
like I said, a three car garage. Mr. Rivers is getting rid of most of that curb cut, but
seeking to keep a one-car garage parking on the first floor from that existing area.
That was the basis. That refusal was not part, because it was an existing curb cut,
that refusal was not part of the original refusal, but it was determined at this hearing, I think, appropriately.
that refusal was not part of the original refusal but it was determined at this hearing
i think appropriately that there was an amended refusal necessary the only other refusal is that
uh you know if you're less than 45 feet in depth you have to have a seven foot rear yard as opposed
to a nine foot rear yard here a zero foot rear yard is being proposed and as you can see from
the site photos i think we have a clear hardship we're only 23 feet deep so if you had
a seven foot rear yard, suddenly you're only 16 feet deep. It's difficult to get a house
in that anyway. And what you would have is really kind of a solitary confinement,
almost jail cell in the back with these huge built up party walls all the way around.
So all we're asking for today is a single family house to be built with that one car garage.
again the amended refusal is already in and we do have um floor plans here to show there will be no
bedrooms in the basement that'll be just for utility living one car garage and kitchen on
the first floor uh second floor will be the bedroom and main living area and then there will
be a an additional bedroom on the third floor which is uh set back as you can see in this
bottom left so i i know i went through that very quickly um but i know this already went through
a full hearing with you all and i didn't want to belabor any points so we're happy to answer
any questions i can have mr rivers adopt my testimony why don't you have him adopt your
testimony um do you want to swear i'm in good please state your name and spell for the sonographer
My name is Calvin Rivers, C-A-L-V-I-N-R-I-V-E-R-S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Chair.
Mr. Rivers, you're here on behalf of the owner and advocate, correct?
Correct.
And did you already hear what I presented today?
And do you believe it to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you very much.