and I certainly would have my client adopt my testimony and also just speak a little bit about
the fact why the first floor would not be viable for commercial.
Mr. Clinton, let's get your client on the line.
Tell them to unmute it.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Lewinstein, can he be unmuted, please?
Mr. Lewinstein, you can unmute yourself and please wait for the chair.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Mr. Loonston are you there? Yes I believe I unmuted it I'm sorry. Okay good state your name
and spell for the court reporter please. My name is Michael Loonston L-O-O-N as in Nancy
s-t-y-n do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed mr clinton i thank you mr chairman uh mr lewinstein you were on the call
when i did the presentation for this project correct yes sir okay and if you had the opportunity
to testify would you adopt my testimony as your own and would it be true and correct yes sir
and mr lewinstein uh the request today is to have the first floor uh commercial rather than
residential. And what has led you to that conclusion? And who have you spoken to in terms
of expertise in the real estate industry to come to that conclusion? Well, I spoke with a few
realtors in the area, but most prominently, I spoke with Julie Welker, who has an office less
than 100 feet away from that, and actually owns the corner building on Carrot Street. And she
kind of she also agreed with me that the highest and best use would be for a residential unit
and that she doesn't have much demand in that immediate area for commercial space and that's
why we made the decision to switch it to a residential unit. All right thank you Mr.
Lewinstein with that Mr. Chairman I rest. Excuse me Mr. Chairman may I just ask Mr. Clinton that
when you have a chance you can forward me a copy of the RCO letter. I checked the exhibit packet
that was submitted on Friday and it was not included. So just so that we will have it for
our records. Thank you. Yes, Ms. Lyell, we'll do that. Questions from the board? No. No, Mr. Chairman.
other questions in the virtual audience chair we have teresa holberg with her name up miss holberg
Chair, we have Teresa Holberg with her name up. Ms. Holberg, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
I think I'm unmuted. Can you hear me?
Okay, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
All right, my name is Teresa Holberg, T-E-R-E-S-A. Holberg, H-O-B as in boy, E-R-G as in girl.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
proceed well first i have to admit my face is red because um if mr clinton scrolls back to the uh
f the rco letter that he has in his package you will see that that is actually for another matter
that's coming up next week 3039 cambridge street not this matter um so i'm not sure how that
happened somehow the letter that i was preparing that i prepared for 700 north 23rd street got
overwritten by the one for 3039 cambridge thank you i don't know what we do about that
i don't know if i can forward that or share my screen for the for the letter um but the vote
by the board was basically non-opposition on this and the reason for that is that we had
um a total of 14 affected neighbors that voted on this and they were very evenly split
um six in support six in opposition and two that said non-opposition
when we extended it to the overall community it was a total of 25 in support nine opposed
and two non-opposition and we also broke this down um because it is two variances involved here and
and i brought this up in the community meeting and this was an issue with mr clinton
the property at the time initially initially
filed for the as of right permit back in June of last year and got the approval in June of last
year for the four residential units and the one commercial unit. And they were able to get an
additional residential unit by paying into the housing trust fund. They filed for an amendment
to that and i believe it was in march of this year to add an additional parking spot
they had completed the demolition of the improvements and the lot consolidation
and they were starting on site improvements but they were not under construction of this plan
before they filed for yet another plan which was for five residential units and no commercial
and mr clinton has represented this as a swap because it's an existing project but
it was really not existing at the time that they filed for this application and i don't see anything
in the zoning code that says that you know this is an amendment of the prior plan it's it's a new
plan it's a new plan for five residential units with no commercials so therefore we we ask the
community to vote on those two variances. First, do you
oppose or approve the request to eliminate the commercial unit?
That was one vote. And within the affected neighbors, nine
voted to nine voted to agree with that and the three opposed it but and within
the greater neighborhood it was was still similar numbers to to approve it
then when they voted on the addition of the additional unit it was again evenly
split six in favor six opposed so that is a reason for taking kind of a non-opposition
um there was no on the part of the affected neighbors there was no immediate um no no clear
indication of um of their support for this and we place greater reliance on the affected neighbors
and the community at large because they're the ones that obviously are impacted for this so the
issue is really um not a swap um it's really
it's really you know you got three options you can either build it as of right with the
housing trust fund which is first floor commercial four units um you could always resort to the
um he could always resort to the previous plan which was for single family residential that he
previous plan which was for single-family residential
did get approval for he could um if he gets this approval he could build five units or if he gets
approval for um eliminating the commercial then he has approval for four residential units and
those were the options available to us so the vote is you know what it is but um i think the
issue here is presenting this as essentially an existing project that we have that we're forced
into considering when in fact it's a new project and we shouldn't be forced into reviewing viewing
this as an amendment because it's really not it's a new plan um and and the community split on this
um hold on i acknowledge that running commercial on the on and off the main street location will
be difficult i don't believe it will be impossible we have had a couple of new instances of that
but you know the vote is what it is i don't know how um if i need to send the correct
RCO notice, or if that's too late, if my testimony here counts, I hope council can advise me on that.
If you could please email the letter just so that we'll have it for our records. Thank you.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
And Ms. Hoberg, to be clear, the letter, pages two and three, the verbiage actually describes
the project that we're discussing.
And I think your testimony is that
there's non-opposition from Fairmount Civic, correct?
Ms. Hilberg?
Any other testimony in the virtual audience?
There are no other heads at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman and Ian Hegarty
for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Members of the board, comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the existing commercial
mixed use zoning at this location.
However, with regard to the use variance
for a ground floor commercial,
the proposed use is consistent with adjacent uses
on this block and the commission recommends the board
grant the variance for ground floor residential use.
However, with regard to the use variance
for dwelling unit count,
We believe that the applicant should not be granted the variance for the proposed number
of dwelling units.
The reason is that we believe that there is an existing pathway with the mixed income
housing bonus and or the green roof bonus that's available to the applicant to achieve
the proposed dwelling unit count without seeking a variance.
And by granting this variance, the board would be sort of short circuiting an existing bonus
program that's available to the applicant that they have chosen not to take advantage of.
I understand there's, you know, been multiple revisions in this case, and, you know, some
confusion might have arisen out of that, but we still see this as an additional dwelling unit
that's being proposed without really a basis in hardship, and also being proposed when there's
an existing pathway to achieve that number of dwelling units. And so on that refusal,
that is the dwelling unit density refusal issued by lni we would recommend that the
zoning board vote against it unless there's an opportunity for proviso requiring revised
plans to conform with the dwelling unit density bonuses thank you may i comment on that just a
slight revision to that that in fact that the for you I'm sorry chair that was someone else you can
continue excuse me this is Sharon just I think my understanding and Mr. Clinton maybe can confirm
this is that if you refuse the variance for the number of dwelling units the applicant would still
be permitted to have four devolving units by right is that correct correct
and i can address the planning commission comments is
we have commercial on the first floor and if you say we can't make that commercial into residential
you're basically saying that one of the other apartments is going to have more bedrooms than
it has now so you're really not affecting the number of bedrooms the density is going to be
the same and plus my client has already paid into the housing trust fund permitting
And plus, my client has already paid into the housing trust fund, permitting an increase in the residential units and increasing in the height.
So we have taken advantage of that, Dan, and that's why we're back here saying, okay, we have residential units already.
The commercial and the first doesn't work.
Expert testimony through Mr. Lundstein's testimony has been proffered before the board.
And based on that, it just makes a lot of sense rather than having a dark, vacant commercial space and or having the same number of bedrooms just to have another unit, which then will make a smaller unit more affordable than if you have a large unit with multiple bedrooms.
So I'm sorry if I may, Chair Bergman, just clarify the Planning Commission's position.
We're not opposed to the use of the ground floor as residential space on this block.
we support that the board grant the variance for residential use on the ground floor of this
structure. And I thank you, counsel, for clarifying. I don't think that was mentioned on the record
before. There has been a payment into the housing trust fund and an agreement signed between your
client and the city? Absolutely, yes. Okay, thank you. Then we support the proposal as
recommend uh sorry we also support the variance for the additional dwelling in that case thank
you mr haggarty thank you mr clinton mi 2021 003067 700 north 23rd street i vote yes harold
tenere my vote is yes jane snell my vote is yes thomas holliman my vote is yes thank you thank
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Tanya, I think we're through the list.
Yes, Chair, it appears as though we are.
If I may ask the question of all in the virtual audience,
are you waiting for a case to be heard that was not listed or called today?
If so, please raise your hand.
If not, then we will finish hearings for today.
I see no hands at this time, Tanya.
okay cheer we're all done thank you everyone bye-bye thank you bye
okay good afternoon everyone
my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this afternoon zba hearings
board members with me carolton eric our vice chair present thomas holliman our board member
present mr chairman james snell our board member present mr chairman also present our zoning board
administrator tanya sunkett and board attorney sharon saletta before we begin here is our virtual
format. First, be advised this proceeding is being recorded by participating to acknowledge
your agreement to be recorded. The video will be available by contacting our Board Administrator
Tanya Sunkit at tanyasunkit at phila.gov. Second, for the benefit of our court stenographer,
we ask attorneys and witnesses to ID themselves prior to speaking or testifying. Third, if you're
participating by phone, if you wish to testify, raise your hand by pressing star 9, then star 6
on mute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email address and the
address of the property in question the phone number again 267-270-5548 and finally
if you have a question the question answer box is not for testament testimony or comments
any comment should be directed to tanya sunkett our board administrator now we'll start with our
Continuuses. I have three continuuses listed right now. Number six, MI 2021-003-722-19 and West
Moreland Street. Number 8, MI 2021-003-735-201 West Hunting Park. And my number 16, which is
MI 2021-003-757-897 North 45th Street. Does anyone have any issues or questions relative to the
Does anyone have any issues or questions relative to the contingency?
It continues.
Chair, we have someone by last name of Woods.
Ms. Woods, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Ms. Woods, would you state your name, spell it for the court reporter?
yes martia woods m-a-r-t-i-a woods w-o-o-d-s okay do you swear or firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes yes ma'am what what's your issue what are your
comments she she just made me aware that i was a continuance i didn't hear my number called
um chair this is number 13 okay
okay um excuse me this the last time this was um listed miss wood said that she wasn't um
sure about how to submit exhibits it was continued must be heard so right
Ms. Woods, you're requesting another continuance.
Ms. Woods, Ms. Woods, you're muted, unmute yourself please.
My apologies, I am, I do have my exhibit package documentation ready to be shared.
Did you send it in five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes ma'am.
Who did you send it to?
to the zoning board the zoning board members and i'm sorry there were there were certain email
addresses that you were um required to submit it to the rcozba mailbox and my email address
suletazba gmail.com yes ma'am i did do that i don't have a record of having received it could
Would you mind forwarding it to me now?
Yes, me.
So what we'll do is we'll go past this
and we'll get back to you when your case comes up.
Thank you.
All right.
So any other questions about the three that I mentioned?
Chair, we have someone with the last name Genosia.
Mr. and Ms. Genosia, you can unmute yourself
and wait for the chair.