panelists you can unmute your mic and wait to be sworn in
michael are you there yes hi everyone my name is michael gaskins
sir are you an attorney no okay go ahead name and address for the
record michael gaskins 2813 wharton street
do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes
okay this is an application for a permit for a proposed use of a daycare center
on the first floor and a single family household living on second floor
in an existing attached structure you may proceed hello everyone um right now uh we
filed application with the city to make a daycare on the first floor we went
through the RCO we have community support we think that this will help out
the neighborhood because a lot of vacant properties were there so we're gonna
bring new business into the neighborhood the community spoke to the neighbors on
the block and surrounding areas we had no objections from any of the neighbors
around Wharton Street, Newkirk Street, 28th Street, 29th Street. We had no opposition
whatsoever. So we think that this will help the neighborhood. Sir, did you attend an RCO meeting?
Yes, we did. We have support from the RCO. We submitted all our documents in five days prior
to this meeting. Thank you. Any questions from the board?
no no anyone else wish to testify in this case please raise your hand
no hands chair thank you planning commission mr chairman and members of the board this property
david could you please announce your agency and name oh sorry uh good afternoon david effecto
City Planning Commission, Mr. Chairman, and members of the board. This property is indicated for
single-family use on the city's comprehensive plan. We do not believe the addition of a daycare
will have a negative impact on the area. Accordingly, we have no objection to granting
this variance. Thank you. Mr. Gaskins, I see you have a photograph poster. Is that you going up
of that three-pointer in the red? All right, just curious. Calendar number MI-2020-000243-2813
Wharton Street, my vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote
is yes
good luck calendar number mi-2020
000240 1740 wolf street number two
Mr. Sabatini?
We don't have anyone's hands up for this.
All right, let's hold off until the end. Maybe they're having technical issues.
We do have, I'm sorry, someone's hand just cocked up.
Bernie Verrello, are you here for this case?
Yes, can you hear us?
Are you the applicant?
Donald Sabatini, I'm here, the attorney for the applicant, which is an LLC.
And one of the principals, Bernardino Verrello, is also here.
Wonderful.
You can continue, Chair.
Thank you.
Carol?
have you emailed or have you been sworn in we have not okay name and address for the record
uh donald s sabatini d-o-n-a-l-d s last name s-a-b-a-t-i-n-i 7710 orpheus place
stiladelphia pennsylvania 19153 thank you do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and
Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
nothing but the truth.
Bernardino Varello, 2307 South 18th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19145.
And do you also swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in the exhibit packets with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal,
referral photos plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with
the rco and if so do you have a letter uh they were brought in uh with the exception of the plans
which we have here the principal did meet with the rco and they have a letter of no opposition
from gear that was sent to them it was sent in excuse me this is sharon solita i have no record
of receiving the exhibit packet.
Was it emailed to me five days
in advance of this hearing?
It was received January 3rd.
No, it was brought in in person in January.
No, I'm sorry.
You were required to email it in
in advance of the hearing.
We don't have access to the records
that were submitted to the office.
Okay, in that case,
we would ask for a continuance.
calendar number 2020 mi 2020 000 240 1740 wolf street number two this case will be continued
thank you
calendar number mi 2020-001093 1520 spruce street
The attorney is Ron Patterson.
Ron, can you hear me?
Yes, I can.
Name and address for the record, please.
Good afternoon again.
Ronald Patterson, 1835 Market Street, Philadelphia PA 19103.
Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive and stip?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents,
which are proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral, photos,
and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing.
Also, have you met with the RCO, and if so, do you have a letter?
Yes, to all of the above.
Okay, we may proceed.
Thank you.
So this application, as you mentioned, regards 1530 Spruce Street.
It's actually the terrain building.
Can you see my screen?
Yes, I can.
With that round camera circulated again.
And a fancy electronic pen that's hard to write.
Right.
So this is the terrain.
I guess we all know what that is.
Here's a view looking up at the sky.
The terrain was built in around 1910.
It has 15 floors.
There's a residential lobby on the first floor.
Bravo Brothers Cafe over here to the right.
And through floors 1 through 13, there were 133 residential dwelling units.
On floor 14 and 15 was a penthouse that was built in the early 1980s and last occupied 10 years ago.
So I'll show you some pictures of it in a minute.
This is the penthouse we're speaking about. Although it may look nice, it's uninhabitable
and in disrepair. It was structurally built inappropriately. It actually was constructed
sitting on the roof with no bracing on any structural beams or support walls, not tied
into the walls or beams as I mentioned so the application is to demolish this
structure and create a new one and you'll see here are these little trusses
here actually do go on support walls and beams of the building. It's located to
the rear of the building running on Delancey Street. Of course it will be
built better and safer for the reasons that I mentioned. The district they're
for the reasons that I mentioned. The district they're in is an RMX3 zoning district. It's a
in as an RMX3 zone.
residential commercial zoning district. It's an FAR floor area ratio district of 500%. I mentioned
the building was built back in the 1910s because at the time it was built or predated the zoning
code. Recently, the district was remapped to RMX3, which requires 500% FAR, and RMX3
existing, the way it was built, is 924% FAR. So it's a pre-existing but legally non-conforming
structure. Thus, any new one square foot of floor area would raise the FAR, even minusculely,
and would require variance, which is why we're here. This replacement penthouse would increase
the FAR from 924 to 930. We believe the variance is justified in this case because the recent
rezoning created a hardship and that it doesn't encompass or reflect the existing conditions yet
as you'll see the replacement addition uh creates otherwise no adverse impacts because it can't be
seen from new carlos we did meet with center city residents association virtually ccra on april 24
2020. with that if you could uh giuliano if you could raise your hand so we could have you sworn
as well as Carl Embarger, please.
I'm here.
Okay, Juliano?
Could you please tell the board your name and address, please?
Juliano Pinotaro, 1520 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19102, Suite 101.
G-I-U-L-I-A-N-O. Last name is P as in Paul, I-G-N-A-T as in Tom, A-R-O.
Thank you.
And Juliano, what is your connection with the building?
I am the vice president of Terrain LP, which is the owner of the property.
And you've heard my testimony and presentation.
Would you agree that it's true and accurate and you would adopt it as your own?
I would. I do.
Carl, are you there?
I am here.
Could you tell the board your name and address, please?
My name is Carl Enberger.
The address is 1616 Walnut Street, Suite 101, Philadelphia, PA, 1903.
Would you please spell your last name, Carl?
First and last name.
Yes, it is E as in Edward, M as in Mary, B-E-R-G-E-R.
First name is K or C?
It is a C.
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Hi, Carl.
What is your occupation?
I'm a registered architect in the state of Pennsylvania.
I've got to interrupt.
I don't think I swore you in, did I?
Oh, sorry.
I swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Thank you. Please proceed.
And with what firm do you work?
I'm employed by Koshin News Architecture.
And you're familiar with and, in fact, helped design this edition that we're testifying about?
That is true.
So I'm just going to take you through our slides here.
and uh so the slide i'm showing now is the existing condition is that accurate that is
correct and could you describe the existing condition of that penthouse briefly um as you
had noted earlier the uh existing penthouse is in disrepair um it does have several it was um
kind of constructed over many different years the latest part that is the most
visible was in the early 80s also as you noted it does not come down properly on
the the primary building structure so there's some tenuous connections there
that we would obviously like to make make safer in addition to that I will
just say that the um it is a the the penthouse is not in character with the um the the uh building
below um it is a little bit out of place um to say the least for philadelphia in general
um so we would like to make this also a um a a better place for um for um a residence
a better place for for a residence. And Carl, what I'm showing you now is are
the proposed renderings? That is correct, yes. What I'm depicting here are actually
load-supporting beams. Yes, those columns tie down into existing columns
in the building below. And you did mention about fitting into character and
context this building was uh historically certified that is correct and we made the
application to the philadelphia historical commission and they approved this design is that
correct that is correct they approved the design um unanimously uh juliano or carl anything else
you would uh like to add uh before we conclude the case no thank you for your time no and i'm
showing here is our exhibit 13 which is the ccra uh letter of non of non-opposition
thank you sure questions from the board carol looks like you're trying to talk but you're muted
The dog was talking.
I thought you were interested in moving again.
No, I just moved out of that place.
I know you moved up.
All right.
Anyone else?
I have a question.
Is that one penthouse?
Because I know there are several penthouses in there.
Is that one or two?
Juliana, you can answer if you don't mind.