We are recording.
Hi, you let me know when people are in.
yes chair you can begin as you wish they'll continue to file in
okay good morning everyone my name is bill bergman i will be chairing this morning's eba hearings
with me is carol tenary our vice chair present ismail shaheed our board secretary
here thomas hollman our board member present mr chairman and james snell our board member
present mr chairman also with us is the executive director of the zoning board
tanya sunkett and our board attorney sherman toppen good morning mr president before we
begin here is our virtual format be advised these proceedings are being recorded
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting the Executive Director at TanyaSunkett at phil .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
to enter an appearance call 267 -270 -5548 leave your email and address and the property of the
property in question I see fourth please note the question answer box is not for comments or
testifying any comments should be referred to our executive director Tanya something
And let's look at our continuances.
Number two, MI 2021 -003844 -1217 South 50th Street.
The case is continued.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience who has a comment relative to that?
i see no hands mr chair thank you are there any other continuances requested
to chair i have mr john turner with his john taylor with his hand raised i have allowed him to speak
uh this is john taylor for the council i'm actually council for 1217 south 50th street
that's my case it's been continued um that's right that's what we announced
i i hear that thank you very much all right sure okay any other continuances
let me have mr michael donato with his hand raised i will allow him to speak at this time
Hello. I'm sorry. This is Nina Curlett speaking.
Can you hear me?
We can. Could you state your name for the court reporter, please?
I can. My name is Nina Curlett, C -U -R -L -E -T -T.
Do you swear for them to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
What case do you want to talk about, ma 'am?
I am referencing 244 East Springer Street.
Number nine.
Okay, proceed.
I'm not sure why I'm coming up as Michael Donato.
He's my partner logged in on a different device.
I'm speaking on behalf of East Mount area neighbors.
We had sent a letter asking for a continuance based on the RCO not able to have the RCO voting meeting.
Hold up.
What I want to do is get the attorney involved in that case.
Sure thing.
Mr. Anastasio
Mr. Harry Cook
Mr. Harry Cook has his hand raised
I will allow him to speak at this time, sir
Sure. Mr. Cook, please unmute yourself. Good morning, sir. Please state your name and spell
Mr. Cook, please unmute yourself
for the court reporter, please. Sure. Harry Cook, H -A -R -R -Y -C -O -O -K, Anastasio Law. I am filling
in for Vern Anastasio today. Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth? I do, sir. Requesting a continuance for your case
the Springer Street uh case for 244 East Springer what we were hoping to accomplish today
we've met with uh the um RCO two times uh we've uh revised drawings and uh what we would like to
do and I believe Vern may have uh spoken to Attorney Saleta right right is to do a um not
hear and hold but something equivalent to it where we present and then we have a resumption whereby
the rco will be able to uh read their letter into the record right well that's what we're
going to do the case will go on today thank you sir okay any other continuances uh may i just
proceed
okay mr chair i have sorry i'm sorry i i knocked her out jason can you bring her back did you want
her to continue to speak here i i think we're going to go on with the case and i think she
can say what she wants when we go on with the case okay thank you chair okay any other continuance
mr chair mr yes nickelhenny with his hand raised i will allow him to speak at this time
Sure. Mr. McElhenney. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. I'm here.
Mr. McElhenney, state your name and spell for the court reporter.
Yes, my apologies. Michael, M -I -C -H -A -E -L, McElhenney, M -C -I -L -H -I -N -N -E -Y.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do. Proceed. What case, sir?
I am here in reference to 1814 and 1816 Van Pelt, North Van Pelt, and that's MI 2021, 1982 and 1983.
I see that, but I'm going to get to them. They're withdrawals, right?
Oh, my apologies. Yes, I wasn't sure.
I'm going to list the withdrawals as soon as I get through the continuances.
Thank you.
Any other continuances?
Sir, I have Miss Diane Monroe with her hand raised. I won't allow her to speak at this time.
Good morning.
Ms. Monroe, please state your name and spell for the court reporter.
Diane, D -I -A -N -E, Monroe, M -O -N -R -O -E.
You were firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I did.
i'm the chair of the 14th wood rco and the property that i'm interested in is 616
north 11th street i we have not met with the young lady as far as an open community meeting
so i don't know if she petitioned to have a continuous i didn't hear we we we will call
that case when we get to it we we don't have any paperwork on that yet so i'm not going to
continue until I call it when it's in its order okay okay thank you hear that case call all right
thank you sure any other continuances I have Mr. David Sturman with his hand raised I've allowed
him to speak sure yeah I'm sorry it's not about a continuance I just didn't know if you received
my email and I'd have a chance to speak
today regarding
hold up sir do me a favor
state your name
and we can spell for the court reporter
I think Tanya
shot it down
David Sternman
D -A -V -I -D
S -T -E -R -N -M -A -N
David Sternman
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing with the truth?
Do you have a continuance you want to do today, sir?
I'm sorry. No, this is a... No, sorry.
Okay, so if you have a case, you'll hear a call. We're going to go through the whole list.
Any other continuances?
Sir, I have Mr. Charles Richardson with his hand raised. I have allowed him to speak.
Mr. Richardson?
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Richardson.
Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass from 312 City Hall.
Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass from 312 City Hall.
Mr. Richardson, do me a favor. Could you spell your name for the court reporter, just to be sure?
Sure. R -I -C -H -A -R -D -S -O -N.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Returning to Springer Street for a moment, the applicant met with the RCO committee, their zoning committee.
They did not meet with the community as yet, and that is what the issue is with regard to them requesting the continuance is the fact that they have not met with the community for the community to vote yes or no,
whether they would support or object to the granting of the variance.
So that is, and the councilwoman is supporting the community
on their request for a continuance.
Thank you, sir.
We're going to see what we do when we get to that case.
Thank you.
Any other continuances?
Sir, I have a caller whose number ends in 0148 with their hand raised.
I can allow them to speak at this time, sir.
Unmute yourself, please.
Sir, madam, if you are available, please unmute yourself.
I'm not sure they're on, sir.
Okay, so we're going to go on here.
Here's a list of our withdrawals for the day. MI 2021 -001 -982 -1816 North Van Pelt. MI 2021 -001 -983 -1814
North Van Pelt, MI 2021 -003846, 2033 East Wishart Street, and MI 2021 -001984 -6822
Old York Road. All those cases are withdrawn. Does anyone have any comments relative to that?
Tino Hans, Mr. Chair.
Case 1.
MI 2021 -003852 -1007 South 10th Street.
RCO, Bellavista Neighbors, Letter of Non -Opposition.
Councilman Squilla, Letter of Non -Opposition.
Vern Anastasio.
I promoted Mr. Harry Cook to Panama, sir.
good morning mr chairman members of the board harry cook on behalf of applicant
and uh mr cook you've already been sworn but our vice chair has a few a vice chair has a few
questions for you yes mr cook do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy i do and it appears that we have the required documents submitted by you is that
correct? That is correct. You may proceed. Thank you. Good morning everyone here on behalf of the
property of 1007 South 10th Street. The refusal is proposed to family household living which is
expressly prohibited in the RSA 5 residential zoning district. This property is on 10th Street
between Carpenter and Kimball Street. It's a large property. It has a zoning history where the first
floor was a separate unit that was used for commercial use. A prior owner converted it
without any permitting many, many years ago
prior to our client's tenure in the property.
The units are 1 ,300 and 1 ,400 square feet,
respectively, very large.
I'm going to come over to our packet.
As you can see on the plans, they are spacious.
The first floor unit has both a covered rear area
and an open rear area. The second floor unit has a rear deck and has outdoor space.
There is plenty of room in the rear to store trash. We met with
Bella Vista United regarding this property. They are again in non -opposition. The vote
United regarding this property. They are again in non -opposition. The vote was unanimous in favor
by committee members, by near neighbors to approve this use so long that proper trash storage was
maintained in the rear. Safety lighting was enhanced in the front of the property. And in
addition, my client has made, intends to do renovations that will enhance the aesthetics
of the facade. So in our packet, we have the plans that show the existing layout. No work is
proposed for the interior. It is what it is. The second unit is a large four bedroom, two bath.
The first floor unit is a one -bedroom, one -bath, extends into the basement.
We have some exterior photographs of the property. It is well -maintained.
I'm not going to bore you with a description of everything, so if you have questions along the way, just stop me and I will respond.
In this packet, we also have proof of mailing, our notice letter to the RCO, tax certificate,
Proof of ownership, all of the required documents.
I'm going to move over to the Bellavis and Neighbors Association letter.
Again, as you can see, here are the requests of the RCO.
Applicant will provide durable weather -resistant outdoor trash storage and enclosure in the rear, as well as add exterior lighting at the entry doors on the South 10th Street for safety.
um so with that i'd like to call my um my client to
testify adopt my testimony mr william de la pena could you raise your hand please
to de la pena has been about to speak would you state your name and spell for the court reporter
please uh yes this is william de la pena w -i -l -l -i -a -m -d -e -l -a -p -e -n -a right do you
swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel
thank you mr de la pena did you hear my presentation today to the board
mr de la pena yes did you hear my presentation today to the board yes i did was it was it
accurate yes do you adopt my testimony as your own yes i do questions from the board
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience?
I see no answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission?
Good morning, Chair Bergman.
Thank you.
Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
That's spelled H -E -G -A -R -T -Y.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, sir, I do.
Proceed.
Thank you.
Members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single
family zoning at this location.
However, as we've seen in the presentation, the proposed use is consistent with the physical
configuration and the historic legal use of the structure for one commercial unit and
one dwelling unit.
And so the city planning commission would recommend that the board grant this variance.
Thank you. MI -2021 -003852, 1007 South 10th Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, 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.
MI -2021 -003290, 1300 North Howard Street,
rco south kensington partners community partners opposed rco western rod letter of support
rco fishtown kensky and airy business improvement letter of support
Letter of support.
Gusie O 'Neill is listed.
There may be another attorney.
I'm sorry, Mr. Hercules Griegos has been promoted to panelist, sir?
Mr. Griegos?
Good afternoon, members of the board.
Hercules Griegos.
Could you spell it for the court reporter, please?
H -E -R -C -U -L -E -S.
Last name G -R -I.
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do our vice chair has a few questions for you sir hi mr griegos do you agree to waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do it appears that you've submitted
all the required documents is that correct i have you may proceed thank you very much
Good morning, members of the board. Hercules Grigos, 1835 Market Street, here today representing
Orvo Properties, LLC, and their JV Partners, six -acre capital, owner and developer of the
property located at 1300 North Howard Street. We're here today with an application for construction
of a mixed -use multifamily building with ground floor retail and accessory parking. I have with
me today, Jake Borden and Mark Landsman from Six Acre, as well as Joe Volpe, owner and developer,
as well as Rustin Oler, the project architect. Just for some background, Mark and Jake are
developing a first -class multifamily about two blocks from here in the South Kensington neighborhood.
And of course, you may know Joe Volpe from Chess Cafe Event Group, who has been in the neighborhood
for almost 20 years as a business owner, job creator, and really proponent of the city.
So this is a joint venture between those two groups.
Council, pardon me, would you want to start sharing your screen with us?
Yes, yes. Apologies.
Let's see if we can find the right.
Okay, get everybody oriented here.
Okay, so we're here today with a mixed -use multi -family project, where I believe there's been an unprecedented amount of community engagement.
We're pretty far off from where we started, but I think we landed in a great place, and we're really happy of how we've had a lot of engagement, and I think we've been responsive to all of the comments from all the divergent groups.
And I think that's noted by, you'll see some letters of support, lots of petitions of support, and of course, the letter of opposition that gave us guidance on what they wanted to see.
And we're proud today to, and we'll give you those details of how we've acceded to those requests and come in with a project that I think is responsive to the concerns.
um property is approximately 34 000 square feet located north howard thompson master street
in the city of south kensington neighborhood um i think the existing use was beautiful blooms
flower company um you know they have just if you follow the news they've just relocated to ninth
and fairmount um this was this industrial building here if you can see my cursor um as the neighborhood
grew and changed. And I think, you know, we did a lot of these projects over the years
of multifamilies, the industrial character began to change. And I think it was lamented that a lot
of the industrial buildings in the neighborhood were demolished to make way for the $600 ,000 plus
townhomes, etc. So one thing that was important as we went through this process was, was there
way to adaptively reuse the existing warehouse and create that industrial history and adaptive
reuse that I think is important to South Kensington. And I think the design team did a great job in
doing that. Just to orient you a little more, you'll note this is Thompson Street here and
connectivity through Front Street, the Fishtown neighborhood, the business district, and Thompson
connects to a more denser multifamily portion which is this is the 300 plus unit dwell there's
about 300 units here at the Liberty Square projects in multifamily. Laser Wolf is right to our
east here so we wanted something that gave us you know commercial ground floor
um strong ground floor parking and then multi -family above um
So when we started, I think we came in with a much denser, you know, IRMX style, over 70 feet, 150 units, and, you know, there was quick pushback to that.
so when we started i think we came in with a much denser
We modified our plans, and as we went through the CDR process, we were at a 60 -foot building with 112 units.
Like I said, about 7 ,500 square foot of ground floor commercial.
A little technical difficulty always.
So this was our original site plan we modified.
We went through the civic design review process, and really where we ended up, that was ground floor parking at the rear, the residential lobby, and then ground floor commercial at about 7 ,300 square feet on Thompson.
As we went through CDR, we came through in, and I just want to get to the renderings to get everyone sort of oriented.
So as we came through CDR, we went in through one meeting. It was unanimous support. It was very positive. And in the process, what was important to us was adaptive reuse of the property, strong parking ratio, strong commercial presence.
and then at the upper floors we had you know mixed units with 10 % reserved as affordable
at an 80 % AMI and we met with the stakeholders and some stakeholders what was really important
was that we had inclusion in our construction and my client can talk a little bit more of that but
we worked with West Girard Progress to make sure that we had a plan or process for training
of construction workers and we can get into more details on that so I think that was
really important to my clients, and we were very successful. In the process, we had six meetings
with SKCP, three public meetings, going back from June 23rd, July 28th, and then again in January,
and we met with their design committee along the way. We met with Westgerard Progress. We have
petitions from over 31 near neighbors, and then support from businesses, and letters of support
from both West Gerard Progress and the Fishtown Vid RCOs. So just to orient everybody, this is the
ground floor commercial space along Thompson. Here's your residential lobby, parking access,
and what we did and what was the biggest issue that we heard from SKCP was really this top floor
at 60 feet. And they asked us in their letter, they specifically stated that they thought a 50
foot maximum height was a very fair concession that they made and was a big concession and
we've agreed to remove that and i'll show you um here's some more renderings but i'll show you um
if i can get there um the details of that
so as part of this if the board's inclined to grant this we have revised plans but we've
essentially removed this top floor. We've added a little bit of the square footage back on this
end piece for a total height of 50 foot maximum. And I think this is the Howard Street view.
And you'll note from our neighbors to the north, we're almost 20 feet set back at the upper floors.
And we've had a reduction of almost 17 or over 17 ,000 square feet of GFA. So I think that's
um what was important that came out of it um again um if you'll note and i i'll just scroll
through the to the letters i'll talk about the refusals in a second also um but this is the
letter from skcp that you should have in your files but uh the committee believes that you know
project that 50 feet could have been supported and frankly the vote was was fairly close um i think
a lot of people came out. It was 34 against to 21 in favor at a 60 foot height limit. So we believe
that reducing to 50 feet is responsive to the concerns that we heard. And I think that's
important. Here's our letter of support from WestJarad Progress, the Fishtown bid, as well as
some neighboring projects to the north the 1400 north howard street project is in support
our neighbors laser wolf is in support lutheran settlement and i i show this
what's really important is i think my clients really this is this is near neighbors
What's really important is I think my clients, really, this is near neighbors support petitions.
And ultimately, what I think I'm trying to convey here is they did a lot of work over the last nine months to really engage the community and meet with the neighbors and get a lot of feedback.
And you can see from the multiple design changes.
I'm sorry, I'm just trying to scroll up to the plan here.
from the multiple from the multiple design changes you know they've been very willing to
make the changes to get this right and admittedly you know they don't always get it right the first
time but we've been trying to push and pull the project to make it economically viable meet the
goals of having lots of parking you know a high ratio robust ground floor commercial
um the affordable component an inclusion component and training component during construction
and um so i think that's that's really uh important to note and i think ultimately we
we gave the final concession to take this top floor off um this is the site is zoned rsa 5
but if you note from the aerials we are this is south kensington is a diverse neighborhood with
lots of different housing stocks. And we think that on this existing warehouse building that
operates as a warehouse, this is a much better use. We're able to adaptively reuse the building,
which is much more sustainable. And I'll also note that I don't believe that the
community opposed the multifamily use. So our variances are for the multifamily use,
and of course the height. But at 50 feet, we're really only about 10 feet, less than 10 feet
over our adjacent neighbors. They're about 42 foot townhouses. So with that, I will just ask
Jake Borden if he's heard my testimony and if he'll adopt it as his own. And as he's being
promoted, I'll say this is the minimum relief necessary. It will not alter the essential
character of the neighborhood. In fact, we believe it is consistent with the industrial
history of the neighborhood and the diverse housing stock. It will not impair appropriate
use or development as evidenced by our petitions, will not impair adequate light of adjacent
properties, and will not substantially increase congestion. And I'll offer Rustin Oller is here
to answer questions as well. I think you're muted, Mr. Chairman.
You're muted. I have no questions.
So why don't your client first raise his hand?
We'll swear him and he can adopt the testimony. Okay.
Thank you. He's been allowed to speak, Mr. Chair.
Can you state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter?
Hi, everyone. My name is Jake Borden, J -A -K -E, last name B -O -R -D -E -N.
Jake, have you heard my testimony? I'm sorry.
you swear referring to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed sir thank you mr chairman uh jake have you heard my testimony and do you adopt
it as your own yes and i'll just ask the board questions questions from the board no mr chairman
no mr chairman no mr chair no mr chairman questions from the virtual audience or comments
sir i have a miss elise redding with her hand raised i will allow her to speak at this time
uh hi thank you could you do me a favor could you state your name and spell for the court
reporter please sure my name is elise reddig e -l -y -s -e -r -e -t -t -i -g right do you swear or
a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. So, thank you for
letting me join this meeting. I've joined all of the community zoning meetings that Hercules and
his group have been to. I live right adjacent on North Mashner Street to this warehouse in a
development of 20 townhomes, and we have a driveway that runs adjacent to this new
development that's being proposed and our issue has always been we're not entirely opposed to it
but we want a traffic study done because our driveway right now is being used as a throughway
unofficially between Hancock and Masher we have people driving through there at all hours of the
day pretty quickly and we have you know families who live on this street and we're very concerned
with the parking being put on the master side of this building that our
that our driveway is just going to become an on -ramp to this building and we really wanted
driveway is just going to become an on -ramp to this building and we really
wanted
to make sure that our concerns about the new traffic that's going to be created from this
building would be addressed um no one from the develop the developers has reached out to our
community matcher street manners to talk about it we've been on the calls numerous times and
have brought this up um you know through voice over the the chat so i'm calling in to represent
um our neighbors to just say that we do have a lot of concern about the traffic that this is
going to cause on our driveway and we really just don't know how we're going to be able to stop it
right thank you very much for calling in your comments yeah thank you i'll just respond mr
chairman we we have taken this through the streets department and we're happy to continue that
dialogue i it seems to me that you know that that's a design issue with a with a perpendicular
street on their um building i don't know that that where we orient our driveways has impact
but they may need to um do something like speed bumps or gates or something on theirs but we're
happy to continue that dialogue and make sure that um our process and our designers can meet
with them and continue that dialogue thank you any other questions or comments from the virtual
audience mr chair i have a david sternman with his hand raised i will i have allowed him to speak
mr sternman thank you can you hear me mr sternman did i swear you in earlier today
yes sir yes do you hear me just state your name and then you can your start your comments right
i'm david sternman and i'm a resident i live on uh 1200 block of north howard so um yes so i i
understand the zba has the authority and the final decision on this and i'm just offering a point of
view in the neighbor's point of view for some of us living immediately in the neighborhood uh of
this block that's being developed and uh went around and collected some signatures so you have
a petition with 150 signatures on it so i'm just i've never seen that i just want to object to that
you don't have it it's it's you have i i hear your petition but get get to tell me your points
where where do you stand with this okay so one is a question the variance to be granted to the
property owner requires that they have a special circumstance with an unusual hardship for the
zoning for the city to be uh zoning to be saying so the hardship can't be something that's created
by the applicant i'm just going to ask the committee sort of what is the hardship and two
if the variance is being granted with the idea of the current ordinance for zoning in this these
blocks which defines a current plan for the development of building in the area if it doesn't
really apply or shouldn't apply to this parcel is that because uh there's a special benefit to the
community or is the planning itself uh for the zone the city plan should be modified at 1300
however or potentially for the whole south kensington area because i do have a a picture
i can present project up here showing the current um zoning according to the cba site
and and it shows the entire area outside of so let me say that there are bounding streets that
are very large and they have certain zoning and inside is a residential area which has a different
zoning so I was wondering you know if I presented that I can make my point more clearly but I'll
state the specific things that uh are an issue of opposition so i i oppose the granting of the
zoning variance because of following concerns this residential community interior to um front street
under the l gerrard avenue second and american these large industrial streets the within that
is this community this project's being built on three streets which have kind of low height
spaced out single family homes and it proposes these towering you know buildings of unlike the
typical homes around it taller than anything that's ever been constructed on these residential
streets and it's imposing transformative change the existing residents so the proposal is not
supportive of several things small family new families seeking permanent lives and owning homes
because it's entirely rentals build so you think it's not for families to build equity or raise
children which is what the community has been about at the same time it doesn't support any
low -income housing either so this is a significant turn to the vision uh of a high compact turnover
rental as opposed to long -term community which is currently the prevalent character of the
as opposed to long -term community which is currently the prevalent character of the
kensington neighborhood it's gardens individual homes traditional front stoops uh where people
sit and long times get to know old folk you know new folk and rather it pushes the opposite end of
livability spectrum like to have uh there's no room for street level green surface or anything
so put in basic terms this is a game changer it will alter the essential character of the
neighborhood regarding the density with this multi -family plan the way this large so this
project transforms also just two more points the the car and foot traffic from handling a total of
let's say two storefronts and one evening restaurant and all the 12 narrow blocks around
to double or triple that on a small on these small back streets on the third block off of
arterial front street we're going to have this kind of new commercial traffic so this regards
congestion and the already difficult parking in the surrounding streets will be degraded with this
high density that's proposed i know you know there's some calculations but the proposed seven
spots for all the commercial space is a lot less than was built on nearby gerard which has 155
spaces for their 50 000 square foot commercial ground floor and the proposed 41 spots for the
112 rental units are going to challenge the local streets in contrast with the current zoning and housing the way it stands.
It'll put a significant commercial and moving traffic in the area, too.
So that's it. I just wanted to state those points of opposition and share.
if you would look at um the cba map of of what is rs5 a5 and you know how it's the rest is on the
outside on these large streets you know um should i put that up and share that no we're fine mr we
had maps we were okay thank you that's all thank you mr sterman thank you for calling in we i did
want to say i forgot to say they were very respectful they came around they talked to people
these are really good guys really um well that's that's great to hear right thank you great to
hear thank you very much uh and i'll just say just today i mean we we i appreciate the concerns
that's you know when you talk about parking and traffic you know um you could do uh a lot of
houses here with no parking um we've chosen to add the parking and manage the traffic and i believe
that um you'll counsel let me let me let me see if there's anyone else in the audience is there
anyone in the thank you is there anybody else in the audience has a comment i miss sir i have
mr glenn isaac with their hand raised i would allow them to speak at this time sure right
yeah hi i'm uh glenn could you do me forever state your name and spell it for the court reporter
sure glenn isaac g -l -e -n -n last name is i -f -a -a -c right do you swear or firm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed sir so i live at uh master street um commons and
you know i've been there for the last six years um you know i want to say you know when i met mark
and Jake you know I've been very impressed with them you know I think they've gone above and
beyond when it came to engaging the community taking the needs and concerns of the neighbors
into account kind of when it came to changing the footprint of the project you know I walk by this
building all the time you know I'm a block away it's always been a hope of mine that you know if
it was no longer being used that it would be thoughtfully redeveloped so I'd be adamantly
opposed to, you know, seeing this become like a last mile of distribution facility or, you know,
used in like a true industrial manner, because I just don't think it would fit in well or be a good
use for the community. You know, I think what they're, you know, bringing or what they would
potentially bring online, you know, it's something that, you know, I think people in my development
who I've talked to, you know, we would appreciate, you know, I don't, I don't want to see, you know,
big, you know, 18 wheelers going in and out of our community, you know, on a daily basis,
when it comes to noise, you know, potential safety. We all have young children. You know,
I think that this project is something, you know, that I think would fit in well. And, you know,
I think that, you know, we could get behind. So I just want to say, you know, I'm in strong
support for it. Thank you very much for calling in. Is there anyone in the virtual audience has
something different than what's already been said sir mr charles abdo with his hand raised
mr abdo could you could you sir could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
Mr. Abdo, if you are available, please unmute and wait to be sworn in.
Mr. Abdul, if you are available
Would you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Yes, Charles, C -H -A -R -L -E -S, Abdo, A -B -D -O.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you give us your comments, sir?
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, my comments are somewhat similar to Mr. Sturman's, but I have them in writing, and I think I could be pretty brief. So if you'll allow me to do that, I'd appreciate it.
Okay, so I'm actually -
Can you please address the record of where he lives, just for the record?
Excuse me?
I live at 820 North 23rd Street, but I am probably the longest property owner of the 1300 block of
Masher Street. So I have a shop and business there and I have other properties that I rent out.
I am also on South Kensington zoning committee, but I am here today as a protestant,
as a near neighbor. I am 120 feet away at 1343 Master Street. So South Kensington has seen more
than its share of tall and dense mixed -use buildings. Most of these buildings have had
community support, and most of these buildings have been on the principal corridors of the
neighborhood and have ICMX zoning. Thompson, Howard, and Masher, the streets surrounding this
proposal are a completely different scale than those principal corridors. This site was remapped
as RSA 5 in 2017 for a good reason. Single -family homes would provide the right amount of density
and parking and traffic for this site. This proposal, which is 111 ,000 square feet of gross
floor area, 112 rental units, 126 bedrooms, 7 ,300 feet of commercial space, which will most likely
be rented as a restaurant, is not appropriate use for this site. Keep in mind, because this is a
large proposal. The voting radius for this project was within half a mile. So if you live half a
mile or two blocks away, the effect of this project, minor quality of life is fairly minor
compared to those of us who live a block away. Lastly, the 50 foot compromise in height that
was is too little and arrived way too late for any meaningful discussion with the community.
so I ask the board that they do not support the project and that this site remains as it is or
is developed as a single -family homes. Mr. Abdo, thank you for calling in. Thank you. I just want
to say I have great respect for Charlie. He's a friend. I've known him a long time, but I object
to his testimony. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. Anyone else in the virtual audience
have something different. We have pros and cons, and we want to move on.
I have a Marco Guarini with a hand raised, sir. Yes, sir. Go ahead.
Please state your name. Please state your name. It's spelled for the court reporter.
Marco Guarini, M -A -R -C -O -G -O -R -I -N -I. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed, sir. Thank you, Chairman. I'm here
on behalf of the south kensington community partners uh planning and zoning committee um
i just want to actually ask um uh mr grigos if you could just list out what the exact
community benefits associated with this project would be as of today um sure um
i think we have committed to 10 of the units at 80 ami um i think uh
maybe jake can can can go in and just give the details but we have um uh we're working
with west draw progress on to make sure that we have uh inclusion in the construction a training
program um we're also going to work with um people in the neighborhood to um uh train developers and
how to uh help them underwrite projects as developers not just on the construction side
um and we have been open to having a discussion about off -site green space and making a
contribution to that but we have not finalized that discussion but we're still willing to have
that conversation um and uh thank you sir that's that's that's the general high points i don't
think i've included everything but that's the high points okay um yeah i just wanted to make
uh sure that was clear and on the record and you know i think um south kansas community partners
as Herc already kind of covered the scope of our discussion.
I think Mr. Sturman and Mr. Apto have covered a lot of our concerns.
A lot of our concerns, you know, I think the 50 foot height is definitely a step in the right direction.
You know, I think the 50 -foot...
And we appreciate that. Unfortunately, it's just come too late in the process for us to change it or really to evaluate whether we can change that position.
That would be part of the community conversation that we had on January 10th.
We had been asking for that height reduction, as Herc said, for quite a long time.
So as of today, the RCO position reflects the neighborhood vote that we had on January 10th, which is, you know, one that's opposed to granting the variance.
And I guess I'll leave it at that. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you for calling in.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
members of the board in 2017 the zoning map was amended here and this was done in accord
with recommendations from the comprehensive plan some pretty significant community outreach and
the support of city council i just want to affirm the earlier testimony you heard that the intent of
the neighborhood remapping was to promote mixed use and multi -family development on front street
and Girard Avenue, while maintaining the row house zoning on redevelopment of some of the
industrial parcels on the interior streets. So the RSA -5 designation on this property
is recent and intentional. The proposed use is therefore contrary to an adopted plan.
While the reuse of the existing structure does place some constraints on development,
we recognize that. We think that the proposal is far away from the minimum variance necessary
to make use of the existing building if that's the choice of the developer and then finally we
would just note for the board's consideration that the affordable dwelling units contained
in the benefit agreement are not enforceable by the city pursuant to a deed restriction and
affordability agreement and their actual value as community benefits should be discounted
accordingly city planning commission recommends that the board deny these variances thank you
Mr. Hagedy. MI 2021 -003 -290 -1300 North Howard Street. I vote yes with revised plan, two pages,
maximum of 112 units. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso. Thomas Holliman, my vote is no.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It was a pleasure to be in front of you. Thanks so much.
Good luck.
Here it is.
MI 2021 003845 1501 South 50th Street.
RCO letter in support from the Southwest Philadelphia District Services.
RCO letter in opposition from King Cesson Area Civic Association.
Kelly Lewis, proprietor and owner.
Ms. Kelly Lewis, if you're in the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
Ms. Lewis?
No hands.
Wait, I got a hand to Leslie Caldwell.
Do I allow them to speak?
Sir, madam, please unmute yourself.
wait to be sworn in. I said that's my sister. She's on here. She probably don't know how to
raise her hand. Let me see. You raised it? Okay. No. Can y 'all hear her? She said she raised her
hand? No. They don't see it. He has to unmute. Wait, I have to promote her to panelists. She's
using an older version of a... Okay, thank you. I'm raising my hand, Kelly Lewis. Yes. Hi. Miss
Lewis, state your name and spell for the court reporter, please. Kelly Lewis, K -E -L -L -I -L -E -W -I -S.
right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do our vice chair has a few questions for you
I do. Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Hi, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes. And it appears that you've submitted the required documents.
Is that correct? Yes. You may proceed. Thank you.
Ms. Lewis, can you share your screen with us?
Um, let me see. I thought I was sharing it.
Is it larger?
No, we need your forms and everything else that you have. You have them on your computer to share?
I have them by hand. I would have to show them. I don't have them. All my information, my plans and everything.
Tanya?
um so we would really need for them to be displayed on the share screen on zoom
oh i'm sorry and are you not capable of doing that at this time i'm not i had to come to my
daughter's house to use her computer my computer was acting up i'm so sorry so what tanya we could
do a short continuance for this so that you can be prepared at the next hearing to actually
display your information on the screen because we have a whole audience of people
reviewing this session and it should be visible to all. I'm sorry. Okay. Can you give me a second?
Let me see if I can have that happen. If not, I'll be right back and have to do a continuance.
okay so we're going to move forward um you could just turn your camera and your audio off
we'll move forward with cases and then we'll come back to you okay okay thank you you can
continue chair thank you mi 2021 003850 2163 north 15th street
no rco letter but council president's office confirms that there was a meeting
sabria mcgill
ms mcgill if you're in the audience please raise your hand
all right sir
ms mcgill has her hand raised i have allowed her to speak
please hello hi miss mcgill state your name and spell it for the court reporter please
yes sabria mcgill s -a -b -r -i -y -a m -c -g -i -l -l right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do our vice chair has a few questions for you
I'm sorry, can we pause for a moment?
Chair, Jason, you have to promote her to a panelist.
She's the presenter.
Okay, I understood.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, who am I questioning?
Ms. Sabrina McGill.
She's coming back in as a panelist, Madam Chair.
Okay, because I didn't see her anywhere.
She's on the bottom there, I see her.
and miss you can unmute yourself hi miss mcgill do you do you agree to wave the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes i do all right madam vice chair she's not an attorney
right she's pro se thank you okay thank you um executive director sunkett um you've submitted
the required documents it appears is that correct? Yes. Okay you may proceed.
Okay my name is Sabria McGill. I am appealing a decision for me not to
I'm appealing a decision to also have a business license in a dwelling that already has an
existing business attached to it um miss mcgill yes can you share your screen with us
um your documents
miss mcgill do you have your documents on a computer before you right now i do i'm just
trying to figure out how to get it on for you i'm about to i'm getting ready to share the screen
i do have and your documents are already up right yes okay and you can hit that green
at the bottom.
The share screen.
Correct.
And then tap on your documents.
Share screen.
What kind of device are you using?
it's an ipad okay i'm not familiar with how to handle it on ipad are you dpc zoom
or bill for me are you i'm sorry i'm not it bill i'm sorry mr bergman um so we i'm not
skills at sharing on an ipad
yes i'm not sure why it's not sharing
open up your documents
documents are not here
can you all see that
I'm looking at the zoning
application
yeah all right um yeah so it was a garage at first with which is would be like rear b the extension
of the actual um structure and it was actually split into two so i would be like rear b
and um I wasn't aware that well actually I had the wrong address when I actually rented it out
I used for 1432 so I'm I'm guessing I'm not sure if that's why um everything kind of went through
with health and um health and uh food safety everything I passed everything else but when
I went to actually get the license that's when it was uh clear that um another grocery store
was at the corner. So at 2163 would be the rare bee. And then that's where the conflict became,
you know, known and it became an issue. I just wanted to say that I started this venture in DC
when I moved to DC, I became a vegan. And I just decided that I wanted to bring it back home to my
neighborhood where I grew up to share healthy eating, plant -based food. It's a sandwich shop
that offers all plant -based everything, even the salad dressing, the cheese,
everything. And the community really loves the idea, the Temple students. I almost knew for sure
that the temple community uh student community would um appreciate us and support but the
community itself has really surprised me when you know people really would like to eat healthy
especially the seniors across the street there's a lot of seniors in the senior building across the
street department building across the street have embraced me very well and they really love the
idea so the community itself really surprised me so i really you know would appreciate if i could
just continue to service the community that i grew up in the temple student community as well
i went to temple all my life i actually went to the summer camp every year as a youth um went back
to temple so i just would really love to service the community if i can thank you thank you any
questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman um senator street is in the virtual
audience, would you like to say something? Could you look for him in the virtual audience, please?
Sharif Street.
Mr. Street, if you're in the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
I got him, sir. He's been allowed to speak.
Okay. Could you state your name, sir, and spell it for the court reporter?
Could you state your name, sir, and spell it for the court reporter?
My name is Sharif, S -H -A -R -I -F, Street, S -T -R -E -E -T.
My name is...
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, Senator.
I'm Sharif Street. I'm the senator for the area. I also have a political office across the street
in the senior building. And I eat at this restaurant all the time. It is one of my favorite
places as a vegetarian in the North Philadelphia community. There are not always a lot of good
vegan, healthy alternatives. I think this restaurant is one. I'm also, as a part of my
usual vocation as a state senator, talk with many people in the community and have found that there
an abundance of support for this establishment and so I asked the board to embrace it the corner
store at the corner is a very different type of business and so I think this will add to the
overall aesthetic peel and healthy eating options for the community and I also like the idea of
supporting a local North Philadelphian who is owning a business and operating one and so for
all those reasons especially the fact that i'm one of those senior senior citizens across the
street who wants to uh who wants to eat it i think it would be uh it would be great to help keep me
healthy and keep the community and create again maintain healthy options for the community so i
thank you senator thank you so much any other uh comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i have miss tina marie russell with her hand raised i will allow to speak at the time sir
Sure. Ms. Russell. Good morning, everyone. This is Tina Marie Russell. Could you spell it for the court reporter, please, Tina? Sure. It's T -I -N -A -M -A -R -I -E -R -U -S -S -E -L -L. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. So we are the RCO, one of the three RCOs, but we are the coordinator. All the RCOs participated in a meeting and we all concurred and approved this particular venture.
um so and then i submitted the letter as well as the summary form i guess it got lost somewhere
but um we had three people from three rcos and support there was 40 people who attended the
meeting um who were in support and um as well and our letter confirms pretty much everything
that the senator already stated that our business 2035 year business vision as which is supported by
the Commerce Department, as well as our City Council, is to revitalize the Susquehanna
Avenue corridor, business corridor, and this particular product line was definitely one
of the activities that we need, businesses that we need in our corridor to sustain it
and grow it, so we fully support, as well as the community, fully support this endeavor.
Thank you, Ms. Russell.
Is there anyone else in there, virtual audience, has a comment?
i see no further answer at this time mr chair planning commission thank you chair bergman
ian hegerty for the philadelphia city planning commission members of the board this is a special
exception the proposed special exception will not cause detrimental impacts to the neighborhood
beyond what might normally be expected for the use and so the city planning commission recommends
that the board grant this special exception mi 2021 003850 2163 north 15th street i vote
yes. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes. Tom Solomon, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
Good luck. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, guys. Thank you. Appreciate you.
MI 2021 003849 244th East Springer Street. No RCO letter as of yet.
counsel
Mr. Cook
Mr. Cook you've already been
Mr. Cook you've already been sworn
I understand there's no RCO letter as of yet
so where we want to be today we're going to go on with the case and then we will
We will not vote today, and we will wait to hear from the RCO.
Your Honor, I did have discussions with the council person's representative about a continuance, a brief continuance.
Um, about, uh, about a continuance, a brief continuance, um, and also the concerns expressed by a new neighbor today. Um, just for, uh, procedural issues. We did meet twice with the RCO. Once was with the, um, the committee. We did proper notice for that second meeting. We did proper notice for that. Um, that was turned into a regular committee meeting, um, because revised plans were about provided about three days before.
Mr. Cook, my question is, you want that a continuance?
We're going to go along with the continuance.
I just wanted to put on the record that, you know, code -wise, we were fully compliant in this matter.
So we'll continue this, and I think you're going to have to get a hold of our executive director to get a date, okay?
That's right. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
it mi 2021 well i'm sorry wait a minute mi 2021 003847 4911 frankfort avenue
this is first listing it's an llc and we have no exhibits is there anyone here for 4911 frankfort
Avenue mr. chair I have a hand raised with another ending in zero one four eight I can
allow them to speak at this time if that is okay with you sir sir or madam please unmute and wait
to be sworn in.
You have to unmute.
Sir, madam, please unmute.
I believe you have to push star nine or star six to unmute.
Please state your name and spell for the court reporter.
Yeah, my name is Ian Zhang, first name Y -A -N, last name Z -H -E -N -G.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you 4911, 4941 Frankfurt Avenue?
Are you prepared to go on today?
And do you have an attorney?
I don't have my attorney.
I prefer going on.
Pardon me?
Yeah, I will go on.
Well, we're going to have to continue.
You need an attorney.
We're going to continue this.
You'll get a new date and it's going to have to be must be tried.
uh you mean i have to get a new date you're going to get a new date you'll hear from us
you'll have a new date you have to have an attorney and it's going to be marked it must be tried
oh okay i had to get my attorney okay i didn't know that sorry all right thank you
MI 2021 -003903, 5323 Chester Avenue. No exhibits. This is the first listening. Glenar, Ray Morris.
Mr. Glomar, if you're in the virtual audience, please raise your hand.
Oh, I'm sorry, sir. It doesn't seem that... Cases continued, must be tried.
MI -2021 -003964 -5640 Thomas Avenue. No RCO letter.
Council may have one that we're not aware of yet. Rachel Pritzker, please.
sir mr brandon saverin has been allowed to uh yeah promote the panelist yeah he'll be coming
back in mr saverin state your name is spelled for the court reporter please good morning mr
chair uh brandon saverin d -r -a -n -d -o -n um s as in sam a v as in victor r -a -n right do you swear
for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Our vice chair
has a few questions. Hi, Mr. Saverin. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and
Hi, Mr. Saverin. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
stipulate to its accuracy?
accuracy? Yes, Madam Vice Chair. It appears that you have submitted the required documents. Is
that correct? That is correct. Yes. Okay. You may proceed. Thank you. And regarding the RCO letter,
I did receive a copy of the letter and a copy of the email by which the coordinating RCO
sent it to the ZBA yesterday. So I think you do have it. It came in late.
All right. Share my screen here. Okay. So good morning and thank you for having us.
This application concerns this home here, 5640 Thomas Avenue. This is a two -story home with
a sort of partially above ground basement on this block of Thomas Avenue, which is a thoroughfare
in Southwest Philadelphia. My client, Simon Howe -Michael, is the owner of this building
and applied to basically take each floor, make it a separate dwelling unit. So the refusal
is for the fact that multiple dwelling units are not permitted on this block because it's
owned RSA 5. That being said, we engaged an architect to design, see if I can make this a
little bigger, I apologize, to design a new doorway directly into what would be the basement level
unit. That is depicted here and we will also have a egress well in the rear, so two means of egress
from that basement to ensure that it's safe. We also walked through, which I will spare you the
details of the floor plans unless you're interested, but we walked through these as well with the
community. Each floor would be a one -bedroom unit. That's sort of the nuts and bolts of it.
There's no expansion of the existing structure. There is a rear yard that will remain. Each
bedroom will have windows directly into that rear yard for light and air. So with that all sort of
presented to the community, and we actually came back for two meetings to give more community
members a chance to view the plans, we ended up with the letter of support from the coordinating
RCO. That's the 51st Democratic Ward. That is essentially the presentation. I have the architect
here to go through those plans if you'd like, and what I would like to do is have the owner
about my testimony, but I'll take questions.
Could you have the owner raise his hand, please?
Yes, Simon, could you please raise your hand, Simon Hale -Michael?
He's been about to speak, sir.
State your name and spell it for the court reporter, please.
Simon, you're on mute, I can see, just make sure you unmute yourself on Zoom.
Okay, can he unmute?
Hi, Nicole, are you able to unmute, sir?
um i he's texting me he's not sure how to unmute so if it's the board is uh okay with it
you're an officer of the court i understand that okay thank you i appreciate questions from the
board no mr chairman no mr chairman counsel i have a question what's the rest of the block like
how many are there other multiple units on the block i mean there's so flexors triplexes what's
the block look like? I wish that the 51st ward chairman was here. So there are, I think, a couple
instances of that, but in candor, Mr. Chair, most of the block is single family homes. That being
said, what was discussed at the community meeting is that in the immediate area, this block, the
block behind um there are some instances of um sort of the basement unit being turned into a
separate unit using a um you know rebuilt uh door as we're proposing here and they've found that to
be um successful safe and a means of sort of uh you know making use of these homes have
And a means of sort of, you know, making use of these homes have a small front yard, which sometimes, especially in the case of an absentee owner, which is not the case here, but where it is that that yard sort of becomes a dead space for litter.
Thank you.
So I don't have a list of addresses. There apparently are a few examples of this in the area. That being said, the majority of homes are single family.
excuse me mr chairman yes uh those buildings are those yards are required for setback
right and uh mr holliman we would not be expanding the structure into the front yard we would uh
simply be uh digging i suppose a few stairs to expand this window right here into a door we
actually submitted a separate zoning permit for that to eclipse already i could pull up the
screenshot if you'd like but we received confirmation from l and i that not only is
that by right by zoning but it does not require a zoning permit um so we are uh free to proceed
with that construction as soon as we obtain this use variance those stairs will be permanent
correct yes did you show a handrail around it um let me go to the the plans here um and i can bring
on the architect for questions if they're not clear from the plans but
um it looks like this elevation which is what i have this is not to that level of detail so
would you like to ask the architect about the safety features of the stairs no i can see from
the course section that there's no handrail and it's pretty deep it's about five six feet deep
a kid to fall down in there right there will there is currently i believe fencing that will be
maintained with a gate so there's no absent jumping the fence there will be no access uh to
that area for the public um i really do encourage you to speak with the designer i don't want to
misstate aspects of the project but uh the rco was comfortable with the safety features and
has experienced this apparently on nearby properties and is satisfied with the design
it's up to mr chair
let's let's go to is there anyone in the virtual audience has a comment
Mr. Chair, I have a minister, Enoch L, with a hand raised.
I can allow him to speak at this time.
Minister, state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter.
Yes, good morning, Chairman and members of the board.
My name is Minister Enoch, E -N -O -C -H, A -M -E -N -R -A hyphen E -L.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, sir?
I affirm.
Thank you. Proceed.
Good morning. I represent Earth Keepers. We're one of the affected RCOs in reference to the shared property.
There's a lot of discrepancies in regard to this applicant proposed project.
One is my understanding there was no orange sign posted on the premises.
And I did email the attorney of record, and he emailed me back stating that he was required to post a digital copy, which was allegedly a white piece of paper.
There was two meetings held in reference to the RCO.
The first meeting initially, there was no attendance from the community.
So with Earth Keepers being affected by RCO, our team actually flooded the community, which was 144 units, I believe, and posted a signage reference to the zoning meeting, which was a tremendous support.
The neighbors opposed the project.
One, the neighbors contested the post project in reference to they wasn't ready for that community.
I'm sorry. I will be objecting to the testimony that was just given. I have an image of the vote of support on the project. That's not correct.
I hear you, Counselor. I'm going to come right back to you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The community opposed the project. It wasn't ready for their community to be zoned for multifamily.
One, the applicant stated the reason for him changing the zoning or his proposed project was to be able to have his family members reside in the property, which were.
to be able to have his family members reside in the property which were in college to save them
some money as opposed to running on the dorms. However the community suggested why take the
stream of change and zoning simply move the family in and the applicant stated that he's not even
charging rent. So it seems as to be that there's no burden of hardship because developer or not
developer the applicant can easily just move his family in because he's not charging rent um
with with that being said as reference to the um letter of support um
it doesn't meet the burdens it's it's it's incompletely filed out it also states that you
know, the votes, the RCO, who was according to RCO, made it clear that even in the letter
of support that he made mistakes dealing with the voting process, but not to be long -winded.
We oppose the project to stand with the community based upon the applicant showing no burden
and no proof as to a real violent reason to change the zoning where the community do not
want the zoning change and they have stressed that this is a single family community and they
wanted to remain a single family community not open it up for other developers and I yield my
chair thank you chairman thank you minister for calling it council you want to respond yes very
briefly so firstly here is a screenshot it's the bottom question during the RCO meeting when they
took a poll, and you'll see that the vote, 60%, there you go, support. So I'm not sure where the
claim that the community was not in support is coming from. Secondly, this is the second page
of the coordinating RCO's letter, which I'm not going to read it into the record, but
at the bottom here, these brothers, that'd be the Simon and his brother Philman, who will be
assisting with the conversion are not developers who want to come into a community to make changes
or add additional floors or a roof deck. This will be a family home that will add to the upkeep
of the block. So I only, I'm going to keep it at that in terms of this letter. The letter spells
out the reasons for support. And I just, I don't feel that the applicant should be punished for
the secondary RCO's disdain for the coordinating RCO. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the
virtual audience has a comment. Yes, I'd like to object to the poll vote when I'm not in NBC.
Minister, Minister, Minister, I think we know where you stand and thank you for calling it.
Is there anyone else in the audience, virtual audience?
All the hands, sir.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Members of the board, in 2019, the zoning map was amended in this neighborhood in accord with
recommendations from the comprehensive plan. Usually for cases like this, we're looking for
evidence of some kind of unique physical circumstance or condition of the building,
such as a prior legal use or configuration of the building that's supporting a three -family use.
however we haven't seen any evidence of that and so we don't believe there's a hardship and city
planning commission recommends that the board deny the variance. MI 2021 003964 5640 Thomas
Avenue I vote no. Harold Tenere my vote is no. Thomas Holloman my vote is no. James Snell my
My vote is no.
Dishmael Shaheed, my vote is no.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
MI 2021 -003854 -616 North 11th Street.
No exhibits.
First listing.
Prosperous Investments
66 LLC.
Mr. Chair, I have Ms. Diane Monroe
with her hand raised. Do I allow her to speak? Yes.
Ms. Monroe, are you here for this case?
Well, yes, I am.
I swore you earlier in the day, am I right?
Yes, you did. Yes, you did. Good morning again. I guess the young lady who is the applicant is not available here. I don't know. We are the RCO, the 14th. I'm the chair of the 14th.
I don't know. We are the RCO, the 14th. I'm the chair of the 14th board of RCO.
And we scheduled her last month to have the open community meeting.
I'm sorry.
So that's okay. Listen to me. Listen to me.
We do have another.
Is there anyone here from the owners, to represent the owners?
um talibah cherry is saying that she's the one can i talk with her on please
do i promote it to panelists yes
um yes the chair said yes that's fine thank you understood
she'll be coming back in as a panelist
hello hi could could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
Taliba Cherry T -A -L -I -B -A -H last name Cherry C -H -E -R -R -Y you swear for him to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth I do do you have an attorney with you and are you prepared
to go on today? I do not have an attorney with me. Okay. The case is going to be continued,
must be tried. You'll be notified of the new date, have your attorney, and the case will be
must mark, must be tried. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Chair, if I could add, this is Tanya.
If I could add, Ms. Sherry, also you need to submit all the exhibits required to the necessary
email boxes along with having
an attorney present in order for you
to go forward. Thank you.
Okay, thank you.
MI 2021
003904
Lawndale Street.
Steve Masters is the attorney.
RCO letter
of support
slash non -opposition.
Mr. Masters has been promoted
to panelists.
hi mr masters could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
yes steve masters s -t -e -v -e -m -a -s -t -e -r -s right with just laws right do you swear or firm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do our vice chair has a few questions
hi mr masters do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
Yes, I do.
It appears that you've submitted all of the required documents. Is that correct?
Yes, it is.
Thank you. You may proceed.
Thank you. Let me share my screen.
Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
We are here for the Lawndale Baptist Church of Philadelphia.
this is um a sign permit only we are replacing the outdoor sign in front of the church with a
more modern and attractive and slightly larger sign um that has triggered a few refusals because
of uh the the dimensions of it and the fact that it will be animated uh we had a very uh so let's
just, I guess, go over the refusal really fast. So we have the animated use refusal. The sign area
is an appropriate sign for, as we'll see in a moment, with the size of the open area where the
sign will be, but it is larger than the RSA 3 sign area, and the height is also slightly more.
So we had a very productive and helpful meeting with the RCO. The Long Crest Community Association,
45 members of the community were there. They all voted unanimously 45 to nothing in favor
of this new sign for the church. We also have letters of support from, well, actually, so these
are the petitions from the near neighbors that are located extremely close to where the church
is located. And then we have letters of support from the Philadelphia Protestant Home, which is
across the street diagonally and has a sign very very similar in terms of dimensions and animated
to the sign that the that the um that the church is looking to to put in we also have a letter of
we also have a letter of support from the cedar grove christian academy which is also across the
support from the cedar grove christian academy which is also across the
street from the church giving their full support so this photo shows you this is the existing sign
and it's in the triangular open space where the the main church building is behind where the sign
is the sign is only going to have one face of the sign which would be facing this intersection with
with the triangle. Uh, here's another perspective of it. And, and, uh, you can see the current sign
now and a perspective from, uh, the other, the other street. Um, this is the sign itself,
the plans for it. Um, and it is, uh, more modern and it will allow the church to, uh,
be able to configure and change the messages in, in a easier and a more attractive way.
The only concern that was raised by the community, and we had anticipated this, and so we had raised it before the community did, was that we were not interested in having this sign illuminated all the time.
So the sign hours of operation will be from 9 a .m. to 9 p .m. every day.
this is our tax clearance our deed and our application for appeal we actually are making
a validity challenge argument because churches that are located in other zoning districts in
the city are allowed to have signs of this dimension and with an animated feature to it
But churches that are located in this RSA 3 area are not, and that violates the religious, the Arlupa statute, the federal statute that guarantees freedom of religion from onerous and burdensome regulations from ordinances to statutes.
um we have our project information form and our rco notice letter with our proof of mailing
and all of the addresses um at this point i would like to call
um uh timothy hinchcliffe who is the representative of the church to adopt my testimony
mr hinchcliffe has been allowed to speak could you state your name and spell for the court
reporter please timothy hinchcliffe t -i -m -o -t -h -y h -i -n -c -h -c -l -i -double -f trustee for the
londale baptist church right do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth i do proceed counsel hi mr hinchcliffe um you have heard my testimony do you agree with
it and adopt it as your own i agree and adopt it as our as my own thank you very much questions
from the board questions from the board no mr chairman
questions from the questions from the virtual audience or comments
mr chair i have miss hillary emerson with her hand raised i have allowed her to speak
good morning mr chair members of the board could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
please sure hillary emerson h -i -l -a -r -y emerson e -m -e -r -s -o -n from the office of councilman
shrill parker right you swear firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do thank you uh just a quick um comment this morning mr chair uh the councilman is um not
opposed to um the request of variance with the signs um for the church um with the proviso um
as mr masters mentioned um that the hours of elimination be limited to 9 a .m to 9 p .m um
daily. The community was supportive of this application, including near neighbors and
organizations that would be able to see the sign from where they are located. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Anyone else in the virtual audience?
No further answers this time. Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 3 single -family zoning at this location.
We appreciate the church's role in the community, but the code is fairly clear about sign size and animation.
And these rules apply to all uses in the RSA zoning district, regardless of use.
The proposed dimensional variances are substantial relative to the code requirements.
The proposed dimensional variances are substantial relative to the code requirements and do not represent the least variance necessary to support the use with an accessory sign at this location.
And so the City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the variances.
Thank you.
Counsel, the proviso they mentioned is agreement between the parties.
It's not enforceable, right?
Oh, I'm sorry.
You're asking your counsel.
Our counsel, Sherman.
Yes, Mr. Chair, that would be correct.
Thank you.
MI 2021 -003904 -6433 Lawndale Street, I vote yes.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloway, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Okay. Ishmael?
Mr. Chair, there's no proviso with this, right?
No proviso. Nope. Nope. Okay.
Thank you, Mr. Masters.
Thank you very much. May I be excused?
Is there anyone? Yes.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been heard?
Chair, this is Tanya.
If I could make a request that we go back to Ms. Kelly Lewis to see if she's prepared to proceed.
Ms. Lewis, can you turn your camera on and audio and let us know your status?
Yes, I'm here.
Are you able to proceed with sharing your screen at this time?
I am able to proceed.
I have my plans, but I was trying to share with the front entrance of my building when I just scanned most of my plans in because I thought I could do by hand.
I didn't know I had to scan them in.
So I do have most of my information scanned in already.
so you can you can share pictures and all the documents on the screen at this time
i do have them on the screen yes okay chair it's totally your call that's good let's go
we're ready okay can you see the video of my pictures no no all right just one second
let me see what's going on okay okay one second i'm sorry give me a second i'm
don't know why it's not showing just a minute
hello yes okay i'm trying to see why this is not showing
so miss lewis um efforts of um not going too late we are going to request um that you be
prepared at another date we're going to um more than likely if it's the chair is called do a
continuance I will try to work with you giving you a short continuance because we're currently
scheduling in July and if you could have everything prepared at that time and let me know beforehand
we can go ahead and try to put you in on a sooner than later continuance is there any way possible
can come back this afternoon no no okay okay you can be on a scheduled date that's posted on your
on your posters that's the date you have to be prepared because that's when the community
knows when to come forward if not we'll just schedule you a new date we'll give you new
posters to poster the community okay okay thank you thank you very much thank you chair sure is
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been heard or they're still waiting for a case?
Mr. Chair, I have Ms. Diane Settles with her hand raised.
I will allow her to speak at this time.
Good morning.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, my name is Diane.
last name is settles first d -i -a -n -n -e last name spelled s as in sam e -t -t -l -e -s right do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i affirm sir and what
what case are you involved with with this uh with miss kelly lewis um no well well listen to me
that case has been continued i know but i just have one question in regard to the community
you said that the new date will be on the posters that she has has to post i wanted to know will a
letter also be sent out as initially regarding um this new date initially um
regarding um this new date initially um they are required to send out a letter
you could probably speak to tanya executive director okay so typically miss settles we
as long as you come forward and register at this zoom hearing all parties will be notified of the
a new date for the new hearing.
OK, Ms. Sunkett, what about the posting?
So we can speak offline, if you wish.
OK, Ms. Sunkett.
Contact my email or the RCO email, OK?
All right, I will contact your email.
Thank you very kindly.
Thank you for your time.
All right, is there anyone else in the virtual audience
whose case hasn't been heard?
I see no one else, sir.
All right, thank you, everybody.
we'll see you two o 'clock okay chair all right see it
we are recording
people in tanya yes chair you can begin when you wish good afternoon my name is bill bergman
i will be chairing the zba hearings this afternoon with me is carol tenery our vice chair
present ismail shaheed our board secretary present mr chairman thomas holliman our board
member president mr chairman and james snell our board member present mr chairman also our
executive director of the zoning board tanya sunkett and our board attorney sherman toppen
president mr chairman to review our virtual format be advised these proceedings are being recorded
By participating, acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett at phil .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone, if 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 address and the address of the property in question. And lastly, please note the question and answer box on the screen is not for testimony or comments. Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett.
So let's look at our continuances for this afternoon.
i have two continuances number eight mi 2021 004633 3900 main street
and mi 2021 003718 716 manning street both these cases will be continued
is there anyone who has comments relative to that in the virtual audience
we have a hand up from mr harry cook mr chair i can allow him to speak if you wish
sure by the way mr cook just mentioned your name you've already been sworn
yes good uh good afternoon your honor um the manning street um matter
yes is uh not for a continuance 736 manning street we're withdrawing that um okay that appeal
okay so i'll i'll when i do the appeals i'll list it with the appeals but we had it listed
that it was going to be a continuance i do have a continuance request in for 15 oh go i'm sorry
sir which one which one do you have 1513 north 6th street number three
okay you show you want to continue that case yes sir we want to go back before the rco
uh issues came up and were expressed after our meeting which was poorly attended all right so
MI 2021 004663 1513 North 6th Street will be continued. Any other requests for continuances?
Mr. Chair, I have Leo Moverhill with his hands.
mr chair i have leo mulvihill with his hand raised i allow him to speak
yep uh good afternoon members of the board leo mulvihill
mr mulvihill spell your name for the board please for the report report
m as in michael u l v as in victor i h i l l right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do what case do you have sir members of the board i was
here on 736 Manning Street as attorney for the protestant, but I understand now that Mr. Cook
has withdrawn that application. That was essentially it. I should have put my hand down once I heard
that. Okay, thank you. Thank you, members of the board. Have a good afternoon. Thank you.
You too. Any other continuances?
One more hand for Mr. Henry Clinton, sir. I can allow him to speak if you wish. Sure.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Henry Clinton, C -L -I -N -T -O -N, here on case 5817 Henry Avenue, MI -2021 -00465E. That case is being withdrawn.
Henry, I didn't get to the withdrawals yet, but we have it on our list. I was just doing continuances, but we'll get to that, sir.
Thank you. Any other continuances?
so with with we're going to go to withdrawals
number nine mi 2021 002 502 3948 the 50 west rod avenue mi 2021 004 658 5817 henry avenue
MI 2021 -003 -718 -736 Manning Street
and MI 2021 -00591 -817 Ellsworth Street.
Does anyone have any comments
relative to the withdrawals?
Any additional withdrawals?
I see no answer.
we're going to go to number one and number two m i oh i'm sorry um after talking to council at lunch
our original that we had earlier on law on lawndale street lawndale avenue mi 2021 003904
6433 lawndale street we're going to revote that that's a yes with provisos sign illumination
limited to 9a to 9p. Harold Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes
with proviso. James Snell, yes with proviso. Okay. That's all we need. Okay. Number one,
MI 2021 -004 -690 -1431 Ogden Street. MI 2021 -004 -765 -1420 Poplar Street. Henry Clinton with
both. At this point, we don't have RCO letters. Mr. Clinton?
he's been brought to the panel sir thank you
good afternoon mr chairman mr clinton mr clinton you've already been sworn
the our chair vice chair has a few questions hi mr you agree to wave the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy.
And Mr. Chair, is this on both cases?
Yes, we're going to do both.
And it appears that you've submitted
all the required documents.
Is that correct?
Yes, including a letter of support,
two letters of support from the RCO,
which came in late, but it's in my package.
Thank you.
Okay, thank you.
You may proceed.
if you can see the uh the first page of the presentation oh it's the wrong one excuse me
that's my next project
how about that can you see that presentation
yes yes all right so we're here on on two projects uh ogden street as well as poplar
street and i'll explain why there were two separate applications uh rather than one
rather than one. It basically involves the same parcel of ground. And with me is Matt
it basically involves the same parcel of ground
Ricciotti. He is the general manager of the Met. And the Met, I'm sure you're familiar with,
is a concert venue on North Broad Street at Poplar. And this is the table of contents
contained my exhibit package AA through A10. And I'll walk through each one of these documents.
here in statement. This is the refusal. So as I said, this is the Met on North Broad Street,
a concert venue holding, you know, performers such as Bob Dylan, Madonna, and all headliners
and some international stars. And the request today is to use the adjacent parcel of land
on Carlisle Street for containing buses as well as for some containers for storage of outdoor
equipment. We've been using this parcel of ground for some time now since the opening of the Met,
but we're trying to beautify it, pave it, light it, and secure it. And that's the reason for
the proposal in front of the board today. So we have a number of refusals, one concerning
landscape. The other concerns that this area isn't a residential district. It's zoned RM1
residential multifamily. And the other refusals concern the height of the fence and as well as
the non -accessory parking. And I'll explain each as we go through the presentation.
I have a question, Mr. Clinton. Is that for load -in and load -out as well?
Pardon me?
Is that load -in and load -out as well, that whole area back there?
Okay, thank you.
So here's a letter of support from United Francisville.
We met with them and submitted the proposal as we're submitting it to the board today,
and it was pretty much overwhelming support on both applications, 13 to 1 on both votes.
These letters are part of my submissal. So again, to give you some context, this is an aerial view.
The area in between lots B and C is an alleyway. Were this alley not here, I would have supported,
I would have presented this project as just one. It would just be parcel B. But because we cannot
eliminate an alley, and we're not going to eliminate an alley, I had to submit two applications, both B
and C. So the lower one, this one further to the south is Ogden Street parcel, and the one to the
north, parcel B, is Poplar Street. To the east is the Met right here, and the street in between is
Carlisle Street. Now we'll just concentrate on the Poplar Street. This is the B parcel. Right now
there are storage containers on the ground. It's an unpaved surface. It's not fenced in and there's
really no significant access via curb cuts to get in. And so again, we're attempting to clean up
the site to make it more visible, appealing to the neighborhood, to pave it and to light it and
to provide some security. This is a ground view. This is Ogden Street here to your left,
Carlisle Street to your right. And again, you can see some of the containers that are on the
parcel right now. This is the consolidation plan. I'll just shrink it a little bit to the left
is existing condition. These are all parcels of land owned by the land bank. And you'll see in
my package, there's an agreement where we are a sub lessee through the land bank of this ground
for a certain period of time. You can see the alleyway running from 15th Street to Carlisle
Street. We're keeping that open. And we're going to have on the right hand side, consolidate six
lots on Ogden Street into one lot, which is parcel C and consolidate two lots on Poplar Street
into parcel B. Here's another detailed list of what we're trying to do here. Again,
properties on Ogden Street and Carlisle are going to be combined into C and the two properties on
Poplar will be combined into B. And here is our zoning plan. Our zoning plan contains two curb
cuts, which permits buses to get in and out and also access the storage containers when need be.
And the buses would be for whatever concert group comes in. This is typically where they
This is typically where they would park, and then there's a door at the rear of the Met where they would enter and off of Carlisle Street into the area behind the stage.
would park. And then there's a door at the rear of the Met where they would enter.
We also have street approval for the curb cuts.
I also wanted to show you just a driving pattern to show that the curb cuts, as well as a turning radius, are ample for a bus to get into either parcel, either C or B.
The idea is that there will be fencing around the property.
And the reason that we're asking for an eight foot high fence is because a four foot high fence would not block the headlights of the buses into the surrounding houses.
Again, not that the buses would be directly facing the houses on Ogden Street.
But when you come in and you turn, we really don't want any light to shine into any of the properties of the residential nature that surround the area.
You can see there's ample turning radius to come in, to back in the one spot here, also to keep the other spot on the Poplar Street side, and you would exit out the curb cut on Carlisle to get to Poplar.
So the rest of the documents are the pro forma tax certifications, the deed, the property, our application for appeal, the zoning map indicating, as I said before, what the zoning is, RM1.
And then this is just one thing I attached to the package, indicating that the underlining landlord is the Philadelphia Land Bank.
The land bank leases the ground to Avenue North Renaissance, and we are a sub -lessee.
The name of the client is Live Nation Worldwide, even though it's known colloquially as the Met.
That's a location.
So we are the sub -lessee, but the landlord is the land bank.
and we have a multi -year lease signed by everyone involved. So basically we're taking a
piece of ground that it's unimproved, we're going to improve it and make it more appealing to the
surrounding area, the surrounding neighborhood, and help assist the Met with its performance venue
and make it and have it continue as a world -class venue.
So that's my presentation.
I'm available for any comments or questions.
And my client, general manager of the NET is also available.
And you want, Henry, would you want him to adopt your testimony?
Certainly, Mr. Chairman.
If Matt Rishiati could be unmuted.
Matt, if you can raise your hand.
Sir, may you please raise your virtual hand if you are in the audience.
I think he's on the audience.
Matt, are you with us?
I'm here.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Yes. My name is Matt Ricchetti, R -I -C -C -I -O -T -T -I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Mr. Ricchetti, have you been on the call during my presentation of these two projects?
Yes, I have.
If you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct?
yes i would thank you very much thank you questions questions from the board
yes mr chairman uh counselor do you have a uh site plan a proposed site plan
this is the uh the lot consolidation i'm talking about a proposed site plan that's an existing site
plan well yeah the existing site plan uh is on the left hand side which indicates the lots on
carlisle and ogden and poplar and then to the right which has been stamped uh by the
which has been stamped by the survey district this is the consolidation of the two lots
survey district. This is the consolidation of the two
on poplar and then the six lots on car lot well do you have an architectural site plan
it's showing the improvements no we're going to have to do that with a building we'll have
to do that with a building permit no you're supposed to do that with zoning
yeah i think he's shown quite a number of pictures
well what about the here's here's also another plan
this is the zoning plan i i showed you the wrong one i'm sorry about that mr hollman so yeah this
is the zoning plan indicating the bus parking here and the storage containers down here on the uh
one parcel c that's existing too but you're you're not proposing any landscape
no we're proposing just the fence around the edge and lighting
and there's no landscaping now
because it's all it's it's going to be paved and it's going to be an area for basically the buses
as well as the storage area and it's not going to be seen anyway because we have to have screening
around the entire perimeter to block the lighting from the buses and also viewing the containers
from any residential properties but there is a certain code requirement for
landscape the buffer the neighborhood correct but because of the layout of
this parcel because the fence has to go all the way to the perimeter and the
fence is going to be eight feet high there's not going to be any area to
install the landscaping you could put some landscaping on the fence
you mean like ivy coming over the fence correct that would look terrible it would grow all over
the sidewalk and into the area where the buses pull in and it would be dead in no time
i think it's just my opinion mr holliman
well he could cut back some of the parking space and put some shrubbery
mr clinton could you one more time show an overview what's around
these parking lodges this part this parking what i'm calling parking lots what what's
what's in the area what's around it i mean i know where the met is i just want to see what's behind
it so this is the met i don't know if that's a good enough photograph for you but i will yeah
no that's that's fine that's a good photograph so this is a it was a warehouse this is now
an office actually i was before the board on this property a while ago this is used as partly
commercial party residential in the corner across the street looks to be apartments
there are some homes here and some homes on poplar street but the idea with this layout was
because it's so open right now it's really a disturbance to the neighbors and you know we did
present this to the community group and the thought was instead of having a four foot high fence
make it eight feet and then everything will be self -contained within both b and c and i understand
mr holliman's concern about about the landscaping i mean the idea is on the outside of the fence is
to have the mural arts program or or some other organization to paint murals that are going to
fit in with with the neighborhood and the venue and that's what the live nation does with all
their venues. They try to make, put a mural on the fence so you're just not looking at a blank
slate. And again, that's not shrubbery, but it's not just going to be a blank slate that folks will
be looking at when they walk by. Do you have a picture of the fence? No, because the fence is
going to be either wood or some type of fabric wrap around the fence and then that's going to
be painted and we haven't selected the artist or the group that's going to do the painting
or the actual mural that's going to be there but that's in the works Mr. Heilman
and Mr. Klitt my understanding is the special service district is managing that property back
there too right the renaissance north correct Mr. Vernon yeah so so they're going to be
the renaissance north correct mr yeah so so they're going to be managing the whole property
in and around the area on the outside yeah that's what i'm talking about yeah yeah but again because
because of the nature of this venue you know we patrol and maintain carlisle street as well as
poplar street because we just don't want it to be unsightly mr chairman i would like to request
a proviso for some landscaping or a mural thank you I don't think we can do that we can't force
somebody the mural arts program to do a mural I think they'll do that anyway unless I'm wrong
Mr. Chairman you can correct me um I think you're right Carol yeah Mr. Chairman I'd like to
mr chairman i would like to interject here um i'm sure i would have to agree with um
with a chair tanari mr tanari that we can't request landscaping without a refusal specific to
that um we can for further discussion discuss perhaps visuals that the board would like to
get more of a concept of what defense should be but it cannot be requested here
But they have a refuser for Manscaped.
Mr. Chairman and Ms. Tenere and Mr. Holland, maybe I can cut through this and I can put on the record that we will put a mural of some type.
uh and this is all and mr uh the project manager mr risciotti can confirm this that there will be
a mural or some type of painting surrounding the entire perimeter so that it's not an unsightly
fence that the neighbors are looking at maybe you can put my client back on mr bergman and he can
he can speak to that sure he's already sworn are you still on yes i'm still here good could you
comment on that? Uh, yeah, I mean, yes, we would, uh, we we've engaged with artists in all of our
buildings within Philadelphia and outside. So, you know, murals are a big thing for me personally,
uh, and also our company at large. Uh, so yes, this is something that, that, you know, I take
very seriously and also, you know, from a community standpoint, it really makes the community just a
better place, uh, with that. And that's something that the RCO brought up on their calls. And yes,
we will absolutely have some sort of a mural wrapping the fencing.
Sherman, we can't make it a proviso, but Henry's putting it on the record, right?
Yes, you can make it under these circumstances with the applicant offering to propose a certain type of fence.
That can be something that the board can certainly make part of the proviso.
Okay. All right. Any more comments from the Board?
No, Mr. Chairman. No, no, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman.
Comments from the virtual audience.
Seeing no further hints, Mr. Chair. Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair Bergman. David Fecteau. F -E -C -T -E -A -U.
with the city planning commission you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth yes sir i do chairman members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends uh 1431
ogden and 1420 poplar for medium density residential use owing to its location one
block from broad street bus parking and storage will not provide any residential density and
therefore frustrates the goals of the comprehensive plan and these uses are not compatible with their
residential neighborhood so the city planning commission recommends that the board deny the
use in dimensional variances for 1431 ogden street and 1420 poplar street thank you
MI 2021 -004 -690 -1433 Ogden and MI 2021 -004 -765 -1420 Poplar Street. I vote yes on both with proviso
that the voluntary or the owner volunteered to put up a fence that will have a mural on it as
to proviso. Harold Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, yes with proviso. Ishmael Shaheed, yes with proviso. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Chairman,
members of the board. Number four, MI 2021 004 -693 -2100 -02 Ruffler Street, RCO.
2100 to 02 Ruffler Street, RCO, Letter of Support with Proviso.
Robert Careless.
Mr. Careless has been promoted to panelists, sir.
Mr. Careless, state your name and spell for the court reporter, please.
Robert Careless, C -A -R -E -L -E -S -S, Cozen O 'Connor, 1650 Market Street, Philadelphia, Mr. Chairman.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, Mr. Chairman.
The vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Keralis, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do on both points.
Thank you. Based on our notes, it appears that you've submitted everything that's required. Is that correct?
Yes, ma 'am.
You may proceed. Thank you.
I'm going to start sharing my screen.
Okay, great. We like screens.
Can everyone see my screen?
Okay, thank you. And good afternoon again.
And we're here on 2100 Ruffner Street.
I'm here on behalf of LJG Holdings, LLC.
At the outset, I'd like to just show the refusal here and just set the table for the board as to what we're here for.
This refusal initially or application L &I was refused on two grounds, the proposed general industrial use of the property and also for a proposed roof deck.
Just so the board's clear at the outset here, we have since removed that roof deck component on our application that is reflected in the proviso plans and the plan form that we've submitted to the board.
The proposed use of the roof at all is just now for access to the mechanical equipment that might be up there.
And again, that's in the proviso plans that were submitted to the solicitor and also to within my packet here.
And this redesign was agreed upon with the Marcio, the 13th Ward Committee.
And that is also reflected in their understanding in the addendum to their letter of support that's within our application.
And I can share that.
Here, right here.
So all that remains for you is just the use of the property.
Just to show you pictures of the existing property here.
Let me see if I can zoom in here for you.
My client purchased this property.
Well, as you can see, the property is an existing two -story warehouse building.
The property was purchased by my client in July of 2021.
since purchasing the property and my client has expended time and resources to clean up the
property, which was a former blight in the community and it was vacant. At the time that
he bought the property, he bought the property with the understanding that this was zone CMX2.
As the board may be aware, the property was remapped to RSA5 unbeknownst to him.
um uh so our position here is under under rsa 5 the existing warehouse um is under utilization
of the property um the board as was submitted in my pack my packet here the board previously
granted relief um for the manufacturing use that we're now seeking uh here today um
Um, and, uh, and again, we met with the RCO, um, the 13th ward, um, RCO committee, we have
a letter of support with them.
And again, as I mentioned, we have, um, they understand that, that we were removing the
roof deck, uh, component of this.
And it's all that remains is just for the access to the mechanical.
Um, so, uh, being cognizant of the board's time, I would just assert that this is a minimum
variance.
It is in harmony with the zoning code.
We don't believe there would be any adverse impact to the public health, safety, or welfare of the community here.
We don't believe there is any harm to adjacent properties.
Again, we met with the community.
We don't believe there's any burden here on schools, park, public facilities.
No environmental damage or pollution are significant.
We believe that the requested relief will not order the character of the existing area.
In fact, it's, you know, this will keep the property as a useful part of the community, keeping kind of the status quo of the historical use of the property, eliminate an abandoned and blighted property from the community.
And we would respectfully assert that requiring compliance with RSA 5, such as a single family, one of the few other permitted uses.
compliance with RSA five, such as a single family,
one of the few other permitted uses constitutes
and under the utilization of the property here.
And it is sufficient to justify the hardship
for the variance that we're seeking.
And again, we're simply asking the same variance
that the board has previously granted
for the use of this property.
Mr. Chairman, if I could just ask my client
to raise his hand and come off of you
just to adopt and affirm my testimony.
Lionel Guerra, please.
Mr. Guerra has been allowed to speak, sir.
Would Mr. Guerra need to be sworn, Mr. Chairman or Madam Vice Chair?
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Lionel Guerra, L -I -O -N -E -L -G -U -E -R -R -A.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
um mr garrett did you hear my testimony before the board yes i did and if you were to testify
would you adopt and affirm that testimony as if it were your own yes i would um sir chairman i also
have um our design professional here today and just in case the board has questions about the
project i might have to just call them to be sworn uh bennis depani could you just raise your hand
and come off mute please been allowed to speak as well could you state your name jaren
spell for the court reporter? This is Ben Estepani, last name's E -S -T -E -P -A -N -I. Do you swear
for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman,
if you don't mind, if I could just have Ben adopt my testimony as well, just for the record. Sure,
go ahead. Ben, did you hear my testimony before the board today? Yes. And if you were to testify,
why would you adopt in front of that testimony as if it were your own?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, we're open to questions.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience?
I see no further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission?
Good afternoon.
David Vecto, City Planning Commission.
Chair Bergman, may I ask if we can get some clarification?
What what is the general industrial use that's proposed here?
Sure. Council, I believe that we're seeking a manufacturing use here.
I don't know that we have specific tenants at this point, but under the general industrial category of 1460110,
we would be we would be asking permission to utilize the property for those uses that are contemplated under that section of the zoning code,
which is fabrication, assembly, treating materials,
production of large equipment and machines.
And that we would have to conform with that provision.
Okay. And it would be entirely within the building?
It would be entirely within the building.
Okay. Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
All right. Mr. Chairman, members of the board,
the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the residential single -family zoning at this location.
The zoning changed in 2021 in conformance with the comprehensive plan.
The current zoning creates a clear hardship.
for the properties reuse and so the city planning commission is going to recommend the board grant
the use variance. MI 2021 -004 -693 -2100 -02 Ruffner Street, I vote yes. With revised plan, two pages.
uh carol tenere my vote is yes with proviso thomas harlem my vote is yes with proviso
james snell yes with proviso
yes we're proviso thank you council thank you mr chairman thank you members of the board
MI 2021 -004 -691 -2047 North Lawrence Street.
No RCO at this point that we see.
Mr. Nackamson.
Mr. Nackamson has been promoted to panelists.
In the meantime, Mr. Chair, just for the board to know that
But task compliance has been received and we're satisfied with that.
Oh, OK. All right. The vice chair was ready to ask that question.
I sure was.
Mr. Nakasim, state your name and spell for the court reporter, please.
Yes. Did you hear that, Mr. Chair?
I most certainly did.
It's my it's my Brooklyn attitude that came out there.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board, Alan Nockmson of Nockmson, PC, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board, Alan Nockmson of Nockmson. Peace.
Just for the court reporter, spell your last name, please.
Yeah, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -N.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Vice Chair has a few less questions to ask you, but she has a few questions.
I won't ask anything about the taxes, but do you agree to read the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
And it appears, according to our notes, that you've submitted everything required. Is that correct?
Yes. Yes, ma 'am.
Okay. You may proceed. Thank you.
Thank you. May I share my screen?
Sure you may.
All right. Thank you.
Okay. So this is a pretty straightforward project.
2047 North Lawrence Street is a property that goes street to street.
We're merely looking to cut the property in half, which is consistent with every property on that block, except one, actually, the one next to us.
But everyone else, the properties are cut in half.
So in my presentation packet, you'll see the notice of refusal.
We actually have a letter of support from the Norris Square Community Alliance.
This afternoon, we received a letter of support from Councilmember Sanchez, maps of the area showing and illustrating, you know, what we're indicating in terms of cutting the property in half and how it's consistent with every other property, photographs of the property in the surrounding area, our plans and drawings.
Again, we're just taking we're cutting this property in half. So one faces one public street, the other property faces another public street on those public streets currently is a pre existing single family home on North Lawrence on the rear portion of the property current property.
there's a garage right now.
We have proof of our meeting with the community group
as well as mailing notice of that as Exhibit 6.
Exhibit 7 is our application for appeal.
Exhibit 8 is our deed to the property.
And we have Tobias Biddle,
the owner's representative here who will adopt my testimony.
And Exhibit 9 is our certificate of tax clearance.
first things first this is an rsa5 property all we're trying to do is relocate the lot lines to
create from one lot to two lots and we're here today because that we're being refused due to
the size of these lots which again is not out of character with what's in on this block as you'll
see so before that um i did provide the letter could you just make the print like a little bit
bigger. It's kind of, it's hard to read. Yep. Is that better, Mr. Chair? Yep. Okay. You can see
there were a lot of people that attended this community meeting. There were 45 people in
attendance that were not members of the community board in support. Two opposed. One is support with
conditions. Of the board members, six were in support. One was in support with conditions and
and one was not in opposition.
Most equally important, we did receive a letter
from the district council member expressing her support
for this project as well.
And then just maps to the area.
Again, if you can see, this is our property right here.
It goes North Lawrence and it's escaping me
the property that's in the rear.
But most importantly, you'll see there's a line that goes basically across because there's a property that's facing North Lawrence, one facing the other public street as well.
And that's all we're looking to do.
And that is actually Lethgow is actually the property in the rear.
And then photographs of the property.
This is the property from North Lawrence.
Defining the property, again, is a single -family structure.
The rear of the property on North Lithgow, again, it's a garage.
My client anticipates putting a single -family structure there afterwards.
And again, just an aerial view of the project, North Lawrence here, Lithgow here.
But again, you can just see the line way across where each of the properties on North Lawrence Street has an address.
Each of the properties on LiftGal has an address other than our property and the one next door to us, who also, by the way, supported our project by voting in favor of our project at the community meeting.
Here's North Lawrence Street to the right of the property.
here's north lawrence street to the right of the property
here's north lift gow to the right of the property north lift gow to the left of the property
then our plans and drawings which i i don't think are relevant uh here i mean i can go
over them if you want but um again we're not doing anything this is an existing uh
single -family structure so but you know i can just show it just generally we have these plans
but again this is just the survey which shows the cutting of the property in half
and again just general floor plans and we can go over if you would like but
again this is just the pre -existing structure or structures
And then I'm just going to increase the size of this so you can see this.
We had a meeting with the North Square Community Alliance on February 9th at 5 30 p .m. We notified
205 addresses and here are the addresses and here's our proof of mailing of that notice to those
addresses our application for uh for appeal with the zba
along with our project information form our deed to the property uh showing that into mag
capital group llc and we have tobias biddle the member of that llc owns the property
and then our certificate of tax clearance there was an issue with some administrative matters
with the city it looked like there were some taxes owed in 2020 uh but we rectified the
situation we received a i guess a delinquent summary statement from the city directly from
the city of philadelphia showing that no delinquent taxes are due at this time and that's
dated as of february 14th of this year so with that being said um i would ask that mr biddle
virtually raise his hand
to adopt my testimony and then i would be more than happy to take any questions from the board
could you state your name please state your name and spell for the court reporter please
tobias biddle that's t -o -o -b as in boy i -a -s as in sam last name biddle b like in boy i d like in
david d like in david l like in leo e like in edward right do you swear or firm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel uh yes mr biddle you heard
everything i stated today yes i'd like to adopt your testimony as my own thank you for uh
streamlining the questions questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no further hands mr chair planning commission good afternoon chair bergman
David Fecto, City Planning Commission. Members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the residential single -family zoning at this location. The existing lots on Lawrence
and Leithgow streets range in size from 420 square feet to 900 square feet, so the proposed
undersized lots are in keeping with this range of existing lot sizes, and the City Planning
Commission recommends that the board grant the dimensional variances to create two undersized
lots. Thank you. MI 2021 -004691 -2047 North Lawrence Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
El -Shahid, my vote is yes. Thank you.
thank you mr knockamson thank you very much my 2021
zero zero four six nine four thirty sixteen to twenty east thompson street
rco southport richmond civic association letter of support councilman squill letter of non -op
richmond civic association letter of support councilman squill letter of non -opposition
brandon saverin mr saverin has been promoted to panelists
good afternoon mr saverin you were sworn this morning just state your name and then our vice
Chair has a few questions. Sure. It's Brandon, B -R -A -N -D -O -N, Saverin, which is S as in Sam,
A, V as in Victor, R -A -N. Right. Vice Chair? Yep. Mr. Saverin, do you agree to wave the reading
of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, I do. It appears that you've submitted all
the required documents. Is that correct? Yes, it is. You may proceed. Okay. Thank you. May I
sure you may. Thank you. Okay, just to situate the board as to our location here, we're going to be
speaking about a property in Port Richmond with three street frontages on Thompson, Mercer, and
Elkhart. This down here is Richmond Street, Allegheny Avenue, and back here would be
uh somerset and aramingo um the building is um while not on the historic register itself um is a
um warehousing building that we um have reason to believe dates to the mid 19th century
um just sort of give you one other view um here is uh the thompson street frontage this is elkhart
If I kind of take you down this alley a little bit, you can sort of see there's this, this is the sort of full extent of the three -story portion of the building, which occupies most of the lot.
And then there is a one -story portion of the building in the rear that fronts Elkhart and Mercer.
Sure. We are aware that the property is zoned RSA 5, which means that the sort of central
by right use that would be allowed on this property is one dwelling. While it would,
I think, be pretty cool to have a mansion there, it's really not practical.
Um, the, um, there was a prior owner who, um, sort of tinkered with that idea, but, uh, sold the
property, um, and did not follow through on it. Um, the, the person who bought the property is
my client. Um, that is, um, Sturgios Ventoulas, um, who is his family is a mainstay in this
community. Um, they own and operate Ventoulas pizza on, um, Aramingo. Um, and, um, uh, Steve,
Steve, as he goes by, bought this property with really the goal of saving it, saving it from demolition.
And we went to the RCO and spoke to them about our hardship, which is that, you know, all we can really do here by right would be to demo this and then turn it into single family lots.
We could build seven single -family homes, but Steve didn't want that. The community didn't want that, which is reflected in this resounding vote of support. I believe the total is 46 to 6 at this in -person RCO meeting that I attended.
and what we're going to do with the support of the community if we get a variance today
is to transform this building into 15 apartment units and four car parking spaces on the ground
floor and five indoor bike parking spaces. As you mentioned, we have a letter of non -opposition
from the councilman, Councilman Squilla, and I will quickly just show you the refusal. As I
mentioned, 15 dwelling units with four car parking spaces and five bike parking spaces.
The refusals are for having more than one dwelling unit that's here, and that we have a refusal for
the curb cut that will serve the proposed parking off of Mercer Street. There is sort of
no conforming way to have a curb cut into this property from any of those three streets. So to
have parking, we need a variance for a curb cut. We're also requesting that. The community wanted
to see parking. That was important to them. So at this point, I'd like to turn it over to Scott
Murphy, who is the architect, and he can walk you through the plans.
Mr. Murphy, raise your hand and state your name and spell for the court reporter, please.
please put them out to speak all right uh can you hear me yes just state your name
He's been allowed to speak. Can you hear me?
last second change brandon sorry about that that's okay jimmy thank thank you for coming
my name is james harrah h -a -r -r -e right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do proceed jimmy are you going to share your screen or would you like me
to do that for you uh i have the pdf open i can share yes that'd be great and just for the board's
benefit um jimmy is in the same architecture firm as scott is very familiar with these plans
so he'll be able to do an adequate job here
just need a permission to share
yeah i'll do that right now promoting to panelists
you guys can see all this yeah awesome so from what i heard brandon was able to give you guys
a slight overview of the property um here's just a three view rendering of the property including
the rear second and third floor addition that is compliant to the city's zoning open air
requirements, meaning that the new addition here does not exceed more than 80 percent of the lot
coverage. And then our site plan here, again, Thompson Street, Elkhart, and Mercer, curb cut
coming off of Mercer for access to the parking garage. Going to our floor plans here.
so coming in off of thompson street we walk in and we have a lobby space with our bike parking
and a dedicated mail room for all tenants as well as the elevator to service the floors above
then we are proposing three units here um all one bedroom roughly the same size
circling between about 500 to 600 square feet uh and then in the rear of that build
the rear of that floor is the three standard parking spaces and one ADA accessible space,
along with our curb cut off of Mercer Street. If we move up to the second floor, you can see here
we have the existing footprint. We're designing four units, all again, one bedroom, one bathroom
units in the existing footprint, and then two additional units in the rear, and then a common
access roof deck for all tenants off of the second floor and if we go back up to the third floor
it this area is pretty similar to the footprint below meaning those units are typical and then
in the rear the units get a little bit bigger because we don't have a hallway going out to
the roof deck so again all units are one bedroom cycle between about 500 and 600 square feet
We're providing the bike parking spaces, four parking spaces, well, three parking spaces and one ADA space.
Just looking at our elevations, just replacing a few of the existing window openings with panel material in order to make sure we have the correct fire rating needed for stairs come time for building permits.
and then using a fiber cement panel to kind of keep the industrial look of the existing building
as is and then if you guys have want to see any of the units a little bit larger i can
peer through those or answer any questions you guys may have
any questions for jimmy from the board do you do have have you uh adopted your test money with the
owner yet i have not mr chair why don't why don't we do that then we'll ask the board for questions
then is that okay absolutely um so um he dialed in on a landline um the number he dialed in on
i believe ends in 0245 um his name is steve bentoulis
all right i think i got that i can uh um to speak if you like please
um steve can you hear me
steve you may have to hit star six and star nine to unmute yourself
hello yes state your name please and spell for the court reporter
Sergio Bentulis, S -T -E -R -G -I -O -S -B -E -N -T -O -U -L -I -S.
n -t -o -u -l -i -s you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes proceed counsel thank you mr chair um steve did you hear the full extent of my testimony today
yes uh and was it true and accurate yes and would you adopt it as your own
yes okay thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no
questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i have mr anthony miller with his hand raised i will not speak at this time
mr miller please unmute yes hello hi mr miller could you state your name
for the court reporter? Anthony Miller, M -I -L -L -E -R. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. My address is 3033 Mercer Street. I
live on Mercer Street, just a few... I'm sorry, is this better?
Are you in a school room or? Hello?
He's still here because he may have muted himself for a second. Okay.
Hey, hello. Is that better? A little better. Yep.
I usually state my address at these hearings, 3033 Mercer Street.
I load a couple of houses down on Mercer Street from this proposed development.
I just wanted to state my support for the development and for preserving the historic building.
Thank you very much for calling in, sir.
Any other comments or statements from the virtual audience?
planning commission
good afternoon chair bergman david effecto city planning commission members of the board
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at this
location we believe that the existing structure was used as a knitting mill at some point in its
history. This part of Port Richmond was last rezoned in 1973, and so we do believe that the
zoning of the site presents a clear hardship to its reuse. The comprehensive plan recommends
repositioning obsolete industrial sites for new uses, and the proposal for 15 dwelling units
conforms to this recommendation. So the City Planning Commission recommends that the board
grant the use variants. Thank you, David. MI 2021 -004 -694, 3016 -20 East Thompson Street,
I vote yes. Carol Tenere, my vote is yes. Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes. James Snell,
my vote is yes. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes. Thank you, counsel. Thank you.
MI 2020 -001 -262 -321 -East Worcester Street.
No RCO letter yet, but I believe one recently came in.
Mr. Clinton.
He's been promoted to Panama, sir.
Thank you.
Hi, Mr. Clinton, you've already been sworn. Just state your name and then our vice chair
has a few questions.
Henry Clinton, C -L -I -N -T -O -N for the applicant.
Vice chair?
Mr. Clinton, do you agree to avoid the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
It appears that you've submitted all the required documents. Is that correct?
Yes, ma 'am.
You may proceed.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
I'm here on behalf of TEVL 249 LLC and Aaron Sitbaum, S -I -T -B -O -H -N, is on the call with me.
This is my presentation package containing the table of contents AA through A11.
Appearance statement, this is the refusal.
So this piece of ground, historically back in the 50s, was used as multifamily.
According to the aerial photographs I was able to review, it's been vacant, a vacant piece of ground for at least 20 years and perhaps even longer.
Our original request was for 32 units, along with 20 parking spaces, and resulted in three refusals.
Our original request was for 32 units.
First refusal, because this is an RSA 2 zoning district.
Refusal was a multifamily household living is prohibited in this zoning district, even though historically it was used as multifamily.
There was a refusal for parking spaces because we requested 32 units and only 20 were proposed.
And also there was a setback requirement in the rear yard, which I'll explain.
We have been able to remove this refusal with regard to parking because we have lowered the number of units from 32 to 21 and then increased the parking from 20 to 21.
So they're basically two refusals facing the board today.
And if the board looks kindly upon this project, we would ask that the proviso form and revised plans be stamped.
We do have the letter of support, as the chairman referenced, from the Wakefield 49ers Community Improvement and Development Association, which is a coordinating RCO.
the RCO went into some detail explaining the number of meetings and number of sit -downs we've had
formally with the RCO and with several RCOs as well as my client Aaron you can see on the
community column Aaron met several times on his own with the neighbors and actually one meeting
took place out at the site with tables and chairs and and refreshments so that the neighbors could
understand exactly what was being proposed. And at that meeting, we really didn't get any
significant opposition. And what's interesting here is that the RCO has even pointed out that,
and this gentleman may be on the call, there was one gentleman who indicated that he would support
the project. And then the applicant was asked at some point to buy his property. And if he
wouldn't buy his property, he would then vote no. And that gentleman, Mr. McFarland, may be on the
call. I just want to point that out for the board. This is one of the letters we sent out indicating
all the things that we were going to do with the project at that outdoor community meeting,
and then people who were in attendance signed indicating they were there. So for perspective
for the board, this is an aerial view. I'll zoom in closer, but you can see that this block,
and as I get closer with the next photograph, you'll see is a combination of some commercial
and institutional uses, as well as single family. The surrounding area is single family homes.
And my hardship here today on behalf of the client is that this is a unique circumstance
and unique condition, unlike any other block in the area.
So this is a closer aerial view.
You can see all four sides, well, three sides,
we have residential structures.
But on Worcester Street, on this particular block,
the 300 block, we have a 15 -unit apartment complex
with parking in the rear.
We have a teen T -E -E -N challenge facility,
which is basically a rehabilitation center
for teens 18 years and older.
And then we have my client's property.
It's a large piece of property.
It's 121 by 219.
It's very deep.
And then adjacent is a single family home.
Across the street, you can see that this is not a single family home, while the one on
the corner may be a single family home.
It's really hard to determine.
So it's really a unique section of Worcester Street here, unlike any other block within
walking distance of the proposed project. These are postings of the zoning notices.
And the other thing I wanted to point out to the board that what makes this lot unique is it's
very, very large. It's a little more than a half acre. And some of the other lots on the street
are also between 20 ,000 and 30 ,000 square feet. And others are not. Where a single -family home
is, it's a smaller lot. So this is a huge lot for a single family or even for detached
single family. And this is the project. So the project is for 21 apartments.
Originally, we came in with a height of about 34, 35 feet. We have shrunk the height of the
building to 32. It's actually lower in height than some of the surrounding single family homes
on the block. We've basically kept the same footprint, reduced the number of units,
reduce the number of units, increase the number of parking spots by one, and increase the number of
increased the number of parking spots by one, and increased...
outdoor bike parking by about 13 or so. So we have a combination of brick, both traditional red
as well as some lighter gray brick, and you can see some nice detail cornice at the top.
This is not one of your typical box structures here. There's some indentations on the front
elevations along the cornice line as well as with the side and on the side of the building you can
see here there's some nice indented porches that the residents can take advantage of the outdoor
areas. I'm just showing you some of the side elevations. You can see the porches and again
it's a three -story structure with no basement and some nice detail at the corners all four
corners of the structure. This is the zoning plan, the site plan. The idea is to come in
on the side of the building, loop around the rear of the building, parking spots are in
the rear, and then exit back on Worcester Street. This drive aisle here is also going
to be remain open because there's an easement to access the building in the back. This was
the original plan. We basically took this parking spot out and then continued down so
that the gentleman or the family that lives in the back can access out through now a nice
paved area. I can walk through the floor plans for you. Basically, this is the first floor level.
There's going to be two two bedrooms and three one bedrooms on the first floor with a community
meeting space. And also there's a social room for the residents of the building along with the gym.
and our trash situation is going to be stored interior
and then we'll be able to be brought exterior to the rear.
Let me show you that.
And I'll show you that on the site plan again
when I get to the revised plan.
This is the second and third floor plan.
We have six two -bedroom apartments
and then two one -bedroom apartments
on the second floor and the third floor.
This is our proviso sheet.
Again, just pointing out to the board
where we have, let me blow that up a little bit more,
where we have decreased the height,
the units from 32 to 21,
decreased in height from 34 to 32,
increased parking spaces
and increased the bike parking
from 11 to 24, and then we maintained an easement for the rear of the property.
So we'll have ample shrubbery around the property, behind the parking spots,
spaces in the rear, so that there's no problem with screening anyone to the rear of the property.
and then this is where i wanted to show the board that you know the entry again is here we increased
the bike racks on the original plan there weren't as many bike racks as we have now the parking has
been shifted over we added the 21st feet there's a needs been here to go to the rear so again so
the homeowner in the rear of the property instead of now driving over a kind of a dirt road will be
nice and paved from here back will be his property. And certainly if he wants to pay that,
he can do that. So again, I think we have a unique physical circumstance here that warrants
returning this property to its once used as a multifamily property.
And I wanted to show the board, I do have a record from 1956
indicating
that the property was used as multifamily.
I think that is going to be my last exhibit.
This is from 1956.
This was a seven -family property.
And again, referencing it was housekeeping,
non -housekeeping apartments
and used as multifamily way back in the day.
Okay, so we are providing a historical use of the property consistent with what happened in the past.
There's no impairment.
If I show you the aerial photographs again, there's no impairment of light and air to any adjacent properties.
There's no impairment of light and air to any adjacent properties.
The property will be situated here.
There's ample side yard setbacks from any adjoining property.
And this actually is an institutional use to the right where my cursor is.
We're basically in harmony with the code because there was already multifamily on the block.
And as I said several times, the historical use of this property was historical.
There's no significant environmental impact.
And we believe it's in harmony with what the community wants.
Again, we met with them numerous times in an effort to reach some type of a consensus
to make sense to use this property.
It is one address rather than subdivided and have multiple, perhaps single family or
multifamily dwellings.
We thought that this parcel was compatible with the remaining uses on the block and that
it would make sense for all concerned and with that letter of support from the community I think
that there was a common ground reached and we were able to obtain a letter of support from the
community group and with that I would rest and open the floor for any questions or comments and
or have my client adopt our testimony. Why don't you have your client adopt your testimony first?
Aaron Sitbom, S -I -T -B -O -H -N. Can you raise your hand so you can be unmuted? Aaron?
can you hear me yes could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter please
yes my name is aaron sidbon my last name it's s -i -t -b -o -n do you swear or firm to tell the
truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do thank you counsel mr sidbon were you uh present
during my presentation of this project yes and did you hear my testimony yes and if you had the
opportunity to testify would you adopt my testimony as your own and it's true and correct yes thank
you sir questions from the board and no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
mr chair i have miss rosalind mckelvey with her hand raised i will allow to speak at this time
thank you
good afternoon hi could you hi could you hi could you state your name and spell for the court
reporter, please. Rosalind McKelvey, R -O -S -A -L -I -N -D, last name McKelvey, Emma Zemery, C -K -E -L -V as in
Victor E -Y. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth? Yes, sir. Thank you. Proceed. I've listened to the presentation. I've met with Mr. Sitbaum,
and I'd like to make some notations to go along with your decision. There are three RCOs that
overlap on this property, Faith, 12th Ward, and the 49ers. We are the hosting. So the hosting
RCO has approved. The other two RCOs had questions. Faith had a question of senior citizen
or low -income apartments, and I believe 12th Ward had a question about the next -door neighbor who
has agreed in opposition. That being said, we sent in our summary late due to a possible
community -based agreement, benefit agreement, and we were working on that due to language from Mr.
Clinton as up till yesterday. Otherwise, this would have been an earlier, and we do apologize.
I tried to make a detailed response because this street, as you see, as large as it is,
and as many facilities and institutions that are on it, the response came from near neighbor,
as stipulated by the zoning board, but also responses came from houses which were within
two houses, no more than a block and a half to two away. And I must say, this has been a two
and a half year struggle. And we did get more positive involvement with this than others
in favor of it. But I do not want to negate or leave off the question of the man that lives
next door
He wanted to go. He did sign a letter that said he was in approve of it. And we did have the neighborhood meeting that Aaron had, and there was no one voicing opposition to the project. Curiosity, yes, but not opposition.
he wanted to go
he did sign a letter that said
he was in
But then 24 hours as of our RCO meeting, the gentleman started to talk about air quality, traffic, and Worcester Street is very busy, and he wanted parts of his property purchased.
So in the picture that Mr. Clinton showed, it showed fencing and a wall that would possibly interfere with the egress that they share.
and Aaron at the meeting told him the wall and the gate was only put up because the neighbors asked
for it and he was willing to take so there's an original picture where there's no wall there is
no gate so his traveling in and out of his egress and his property would not be hampered at all
and Aaron said he can take the gate and the wall out he still wanted property bought and as of this
morning we still had emails asking for somebody to buy his property and he so um the opposition
that the opposition we got was three opposed but it came out to eight yeses on responses
and the rcos it was as i said there were two no's but he did change to say he would have 20
of his apartment for senior citizen and low income. That's going to equal four. So I believe
that satisfies the other RCO's question. The last part was on, and this is the part that I think
Mr. Clinton's language in the agreement, if you can see, we sent it in. He said he would get $15 ,000
towards supporting the neighborhood safety, security, and beautification processes. And we
said we have two neighbors that would sit on the overseeing of that they said they would give us
money and we said we don't want any money coming into anyone's pocket it's to be by application
so when you see i i think a man man i don't i don't as the zoning board we really don't want
to get into about right okay i think it's it's it's enough to say there's a community benefits
agreement but we're not going to who gets the money who does that so i want to concentrate
on the zoning issue so there there we are with the voting on it we did get voting you see i don't
know if it came into y 'all but mr uh clinton did show what we did submit i appreciate that thank
you thank you thank you much for your your call and your detailed information is there anyone else
in the virtual audience mr charles richardson bye mr richardson good afternoon again mr chair i i
think i may have sworn you once already today you did okay just state your name and then proceed
charles richardson from the office of councilwoman cindy bass room 312 city hall
councilwoman uh as there is a cba in place and she is not opposed to granting the variance
thank you very much mr richardson any other questions from the virtual audience
so mr matthew bailey has his hand raised i want to speak at this time
hi mr bailey state your name and spell for the court reporter please
matthew bailey b -a -i -l -e -y right do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth i do proceed um i have been working i am a near neighbor i'm at 301
east worcester street my property actually does butt up against um the proposed uh structure at
321 East Worcester Street. I have been actively involved in this project for over two years now.
One of the unfortunate parts about this neighborhood is many folks here have an
opinion, but they don't care to share it within our RCO meetings or what have you. I am getting
positive support from them for this project. This has been after a long time of negotiating with
Mr. Sitbon about the number of units and the parking units and other matters that probably
do not pertain here, security and lighting and things of that nature. I will say that I would
like this, if you go ahead for approval, that there is a proviso of this, what do they call it,
community CBA, community CBF, community benefits fund for help. That was discussed and that was
a positive part for the neighbors in my community. That being said, I think it is important to know
That being said, I think it is important to know that Mr. Sitbon has worked with the community throughout this whole project and has been receptive to everything that we have talked about and has tried to have been as accommodating as possible.
So I am just reiterating all of this stuff and giving my support.
Thank you, Mr. Bailey. Thanks for the call and thanks for your information. Is there anyone else?
Ms. Barbara McPherson.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Ms. McPherson, please unmute yourself.
unmute yourself please
okay we're gonna have to move on yes hold it hold it hold it hold it could you please state
your name and spell for the court reporter please miss barbara mcpherson right do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed yes
i live next door to one of the developments that they did and the building that is next door to
me had been empty for like 15 years and anything and everything was inside of there i was so pleased
when they brought that building and fixed it up.
Then I felt I was safer with my kids in the yard playing
and on the outside playing.
Because before that, I was scared to let my kids go out there.
But there was drug dealers in it,
chicken in that building.
People was living in it.
It was just a mess.
And the best thing that could have happened to me
next to a building that was empty for 15 years
was somebody to buy it and fix it up.
And I'm very pleased what he did with it.
All right.
Well, thank you for calling in.
We appreciate it.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Chair Bergman, David Fecto, City Planning Commission, members of the board.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single -family zoning at this location.
There is no unique physical condition of this 27 ,195 square foot lot that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code, since the lot could be subdivided by right.
And the proposed multifamily use at this location conflicts with the general growth strategy described in the comprehensive plan.
That plan encourages dense multifamily developments on commercial corridors and at major transit stops, not in the interior of the neighborhood.
So the City Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny the use variances for multifamily units.
Thank you very much, David.
MI 2020 -001 -262 -321 East Worcester Street.
I vote yes with the revised plan of one page and maximum of 21 units.
Carol?
Thomas Hellman my vote is yes we provide so. James Snell yes we'll provide so.
Ishmael Shaheed yes we'll provide those.
Thank you Mr. Clinton. Thank you Mr. Berman thank you Mr. Chairman.
MI 2021 -003 -233 -622 -North Shedwick Street, RCO, Mantua Civic Association, a letter of support.
Mr. Nockamson.
These were promoted to panel, sir.
Mr. Nockmson, you've been sworn, just state your name.
Yes, Alan, A -L -A -N, last name Nockmson, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -N, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
The vice chair has a few questions for you.
Thank you.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Based on the notes I have, you have submitted the required documents. Is that correct?
Based on the notes I have, you have submitted the required documents. Is that correct?
That is correct.
You may proceed.
May I share my screen?
Yes, you may.
Thank you.
All right, so in front of us is 622 North Shedwick Street. It's in the Mantra section of Philadelphia.
in my present and we're seeking to put a triplex on this property in my presentation materials
we'll go through the news of refusal the letter of support from androids civic association
my client made a concerted effort to meet with the community we originally met with the community
and they had further questions and after the second meeting is when they overwhelmingly
supported our project. Exhibit 3 is a Zoning Board of Adjustment decision under calendar
number 38747, where the board did grant a multifamily unit proposal under similar circumstances.
Exhibit 4 is maps of the area, as well as maps of the area. Exhibit 5 are photographs of the
property in the surrounding area. Exhibit 6 are the architectural plans and drawings. Exhibit 7
is the notice that was sent to the community for the meeting for the operative vote. Exhibit 8 is
the application for appeal. Exhibit 9 is the deed to the property. And Exhibit 10 is our certificate
of tax clearance. We have a representative from Kumas Homes who will testify and adopt my
testimony. All right, so first things first, this is an RSA 5 property, but you'll see from the maps
of the area, this is a rather large property in comparison to the other properties on North
Shedwick Street. The property is almost 1 ,600 square feet, and it's rather wide and large in
size and in comparison to the other properties on that block. All we're looking to do is put
three units there. There are multiple entrances on Shedwick for this property. In addition,
you'll see through the drawings that there is an opening right down the middle of the property,
an alleyway that we created for our residents so they can be able to transport themselves from
the front and back and vice versa, just in general for egress purposes, as well as for trash removal
as well. So as I indicated, we did meet with the Mantua Civic Association. It was a well -attended
event. 14 people voted in support of the project. Two people voted in opposition. An additional
four people voted in non -opposition. So essentially, 90 % of the people that attended that meeting
being either voted in support or non -opposition of this project.
And, you know, just to provide some context here, this board considered 716 North Shedwick
Street under appeal number 38747, admittedly a larger property, but still granted multifamily
use of five units. And then just maps of the area, you can see that there is a sliver of this
neighborhood that's RSA 5, but we are surrounded by RM 2 and RM 1. But you'll also notice from the
map that we are a rather large parcel in comparison to the other parcels that are on Shedwick.
and then just showing where we are we're not off of manchua avenue uh you know we're trying
to add density for to help uh their commercial corridor grow as well
and then photographs of the property as you can see we're a rather
wide property uh there's multi -family behind us right here that was being built
and we keep the property in good repair
and then you can see pictures on north shedwick to the right of the property
north shedwick to the left of the property and then just example interiors again the developer
for this project is kumas homes kumas homes has been in business in the city of philadelphia
for approximately 15 years they're headquartered on point breeze avenue in point breeze not only
are they the developers they also do the general contracting work and they also do the leasing
And they also do the leasing of the properties as well, as well as the property management.
of the properties as well as well as the property
So it's really a one -stop shop.
But you'll see the sample interiors, hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops.
Again, just different images of, you know, examples of their work product, the kitchens, of their bathrooms, of their living rooms.
additional photos
and then just our plans and drawings let me just decrease a little bit so we can get some context
but you can see there are multiple entrances on the front facade for the tenants
And more importantly, you'll see in the middle that there is a breezeway right in the middle
where the tenants can go front to back and back to front for access as well as for garbage removal.
And then just again, just to quickly go through the floor drawings, there are three units here.
The first unit is unit number one. You go through the front door, you get into unit number one.
Uh, there is a lower, lower level for this unit. Uh, again, two bedroom, uh, three bedrooms and, and, uh, two baths. Uh, and then you go up a flight of steps and there's a unit number, excuse me, you go up a flight of steps and this unit number two, which is its own floor, and then go up another flight of steps and this unit number three, which is its own floor.
and then just a proof of our mailer to the community when we had the community meeting
again we met february 4th to 2022 at 5 30 p .m
we notified 107 addresses these are the addresses
and here's proof that we mailed that notice to those addresses.
Our application for appeal, again, IRA development, LLC is the owner of their property.
I have a representative, but this is a Kumas Homes development.
Our notice of refusal that we filed with our application for appeal, along with our project information form, our deed to the property, showing that IRA development is the owner of the property, and our certificate of tax clearance.
That being said, I am going to share my screen. I would like Mr. Eze to virtually raise his hand and adopt my testimony. And then I'd be more than happy to take any questions from the board.
I don't know how to speak.
Thank you very much.
Hi, state your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter.
yep sure thing it's you find chukweza it's spelled i -f -e -a -n -y -i -c -h -u -k -w -u last name e -z -e
hello yeah can you hear me i we didn't hear the last name oh last name e -z -e okay thank you
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Counsel?
Yeah, Mr. Eze, you heard everything I stated today.
And is it true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience?
see no hands mr chair planning commission thank you mr chairman members of the board
david effecto city planning commission in 2017 the zoning maps were changed during a community
requested zoning change the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single
family zoning that resulted from this process there is no unique physical condition of this
1 ,780 square foot lot that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
So the city planning commission recommends that
So the City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the use variants for three dwelling units.
Thank you.
MI 2021 -003233, 622 North Shedwick Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Heidelman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you thank you thank you have a great night day is there
anyone in the virtual audience that case has not been heard in the two o 'clock listings since the
two o 'clock listings i see no hands mr okay so we're going to take a five minute break so that
our court reporter can stretch a little bit and, you know, fix any supplies he needs. Okay. So in
five minutes, we'll be back and we'll, we'll get the afternoon, the last one done. Okay. Thank you
everybody. Yes, sir. We're reporting now. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman
and I will be chairing this afternoon's meeting
of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
With me is Carol Tenere, our Vice Chair.
Present.
Ismael Shahid, our Board Secretary.
Present, Mr. Chair.
Thomas Holliman, our Board Member.
James Snell, our Board Member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our executive director, Tanya Sunkett, is here, and also our attorney, Sherman Toppin.
Our virtual format, be advised these proceedings are being recorded.
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
A video will be available by contacting our executive director, Tanya Sunkett, at phila .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we asked attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone, if 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 address and also the address of the property in question.
Please note the question and answer box on the screen is not for testimony or comments.
Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett.
Now, let's look at continuances for this afternoon.
I have listed one continuance, number four, MI 2021 -003 -955 -407 West Cayuga Street.
Anyone with comments relative to that, please, in the virtual audience, please let us know.
Mr. Chair, I've got Mr. Harry Cook with his hand raised. I can allow him to speak at this time if you wish.
Mr. Chair, Harry Cook, I apologize. I have two additional continuances, but you hadn't requested that yet. I prematurely raised my hand.
okay um what are the what are your contingencies sir 2030 carlisle street
we have to take revised plans back to the rco
and uh 425 wildy street um that is vernon astasio's case he had a family medical emergency
and will not be able to present it today. Okay, so I've already talked number four,
MI 2021 -004 -664 -2030 North Carlisle Street will be continued, and MI 2021 -003963 -425 -31 East
while the street will be continued does anyone have any comments or statements relative to those
um mr joseph oh okay never mind i don't see any further hands for those
mr chair do we have any other requests for continuances
okay no number one number one mi 2021 003 906 1008 addison street rco letter in support with
proviso councilman squill in support with proviso
Councilman Squillet in support with Proviso.
Reed Boynton and Marjorie Miller.
I promoted Mr. Boynton to the panelist, sir.
Hi, Reed.
Hi, Mr. Boynton, could you state your name
and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Sure, this is Reed Boyden, R -E -E -D -B -O -Y -D -E -N.
Right, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
And our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, have you emailed the exhibit packet
with the required documents consisting of proof of ownership,
tax compliance, refusal or referral,
photos under plans of the property
and have you met with your RCO?
and do you have a letter?
Yes, for the first two.
And for the third, what letter do you mean?
A letter from the RCO that you should have met with.
Okay, you may proceed.
Thank you.
Sure, let me share my screen.
okay are you able to see my screen yes and we really like what we're looking
definitely not filled up i wish i was there now
all right it keeps asking me to share my video here we go
okay so i haven't done this before so i'm not sure exactly what you're looking for should i
just run through what the project is what do you run through what run for what you have okay sure
so the project is at 1008 addison street um to give you an idea of where this is we're located
between 10th and 11th street between lombard and waverly so it's a kind of a side alley off
the side alley and we're at the dead end of that said side alley recently we added a third story
addition to the house with an external deck. You can actually see it out the window here.
And I'll show you some photos to give you an idea.
This is the front of the house. You can see the new parapet wall that we added towards the top
of the picture, which is encasing the new rooftop deck. And if you jump up to the addition that we
this is the inside of third -story addition and a couple photos.
Then for the outside of the addition there's a rooftop deck. This is the accessible end of the
rooftop deck and you can see a white railing towards the far end which is blocking off the
five foot setback which is what our exemption request is about. So let me just jump through a
a couple photos, give you an idea of what it looks like.
Again, this is probably a better vantage point
of the five foot setback.
The railing is blocking it off currently.
We are requesting the railing to be removed
and we can use the first five feet.
okay and that's probably all the pictures that matter
for the refusal here's the refusal we are asking for the actually I guess I gotta read through
this our actual application was for the erection of a roof deck above the previously approved
addition and for the increase in size of the previously approved roof deck so that's the
five foot setback that we would like exception from that code and we would also like to build
if possible build a staircase up to the second level that was also built into the same zoning
permit that we applied for but the exception is just for the five foot setback
here's the application for appeal i don't know if i have to scroll through this or not or just
show you that i have it we also have the project information form filled out and shared
the deed
and i needed a notarization letter because there's a co -owner for the house my girlfriend
was not able to join us today, so she had a notarized letter sent over for me.
Certificate of Tax Compliance.
And I don't know if I have to show you this either, but the postings that we had out front
And I don't know if I have to show you this either, but...
of the house, on the front of the house, took photos of that for the past three weeks, just
once every week.
Property photos I just showed.
This might actually be helpful too.
So to give you an idea of the second level roof deck that we would like to add in addition to the five foot setback variance that we're requesting, you can see up at the top here, the third story addition is what we already built.
What we would like to add is also a roof access staircase within the five foot setback and then add a railing around the top of the addition to make it a roof deck.
and to show that from the other side
again this part with the windows and the door is already there we're just adding the staircase
off to the right side and the roof deck railing around the top
Mr. Boyd and why Mr. Boyd put that back up please sure so while you have that up
explain the proviso that the community group and the councilman want relative to the top tell me
what explain on the map what that is sure so uh is that the letter that they sent out yesterday
yep so what they were saying is the so the this five foot setback is to the right which is the
north side of the building and they were saying that they would they they approve that area to
be used, but they don't want it to be used for a staircase to access the rooftop. In their
proviso, I think they misspoke. They said the southern end of the building, but really it's
the north end of the building. So the five foot setback and some of the neighbors brought up on
the call that they didn't like the addition that I added and didn't want me to be adding anything
else which turned into them not wanting a staircase to be built in the five -foot setback
so the proviso is you can't their their proviso the community and councilman is you can't build
the staircase the yes within the five -foot setback but i i it's my understanding that
i could build the staircase on another portion of the deck to access the roof which i'm not sure my
neighbors understood i think they were just trying to shut everything down but if if i'm able to add
a staircase i don't think that they would have an issue in the placement of the stairs and i think
i think they were real clear it was the five foot area they didn't want it right i think that's what
the people organizing the call understood it to be but we didn't have time to explore it in the
call because we were way over and they kind of cut my time short so we didn't actually get to
discuss that point but they said that the organizers said that they would reach out to
legal counsel to see if they would be able to to do that say say that i can use it for
accessing their five feet but not for a staircase right but there was no follow -up at least with me
on that point okay
okay chairman have you seen this proviso
yes yes mr chair i have seen the proviso and and i think that explanation does provide
some understanding especially the southern and northern aspect of it the question would be they
won't they don't want to stares on that northern part right yes and i'm i'm thinking that's and i
don't want to read into what could have been the reasoning. Perhaps there are safety concerns
with that staircase as it moves upward. I don't see in the plans exactly what the exterior or
the northernmost protections would be accessing the top portion, but the applicant has mentioned
that he feels that there would be no objection to that staircase being placed within other
places on the roof deck um and that hasn't been really we've got no information from the council
or from the councilman's office so i may want to reiterate that just to make it more clear
so the my neighbors that spoke up on the neighborhood call didn't want me to add
another level at all and they thought that this was a way to get that shut down um and i think
the people organizing meant or thought that they meant that they didn't want a staircase in the
five -foot setback but the neighbors that were speaking didn't they don't want a staircase put
But the neighbors that were speaking, they don't want a staircase put up at all, and they don't want a fourth story roof deck added.
up at all and they don't want a fourth
I don't think the placement of the stairs was of concern to them.
Did that help or confuse you more?
Hi, Chair, this is Tanya.
Yep, Tanya.
I was just thinking if you would like, as your call, to hold the vote for discussion and then vote next Wednesday.
Totally. So we could let, let, let, you know what we'll do time.
Let's go through first. Does any other board members have a question?
No, Mr. Chair. No, Mr. Chair.
No, Mr. Chair. Is there anyone in the virtual audience has a question?
I see no answer, Mr. Chair. Okay.
So Tom, here's what we'll do is we'll,
we'll talk about this next week.
try to get some more information to understand it and we'll vote it and also get a read from
the planning commission on where they stand with it next week and then we'll vote at the meeting
discuss it in executive session and vote next week okay chair so um the case is otherwise
closed except for the um recommendation from planning commission thank you so much chair
okay mr boyden is that okay you'll hear from us you'll hear from us you'll hear from us next week
okay do i need to join a call or anything or no no we'll we'll get a hold of you okay if you need
any other information from me just well absolutely get a hold of you sir thank you okay thanks for
explaining that it made a little bit more sense of course i appreciate it thank you all right thank
you, everybody. MI 2021 -003 -950 -3900 Brown Street, RCO Mantua Civic Association, letter
of support this nichols has been promoted to panelists mr chair good afternoon miss nichols
could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please yes lynn nichols l -y -n -n last name
nichols n -i -c -h -o -l -s right do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth? Yes, I do. Our vice chair has a few questions. Hi, Ms. Nichols. Do you agree to waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, I do. Based on our notes, it appears
that you've submitted all the required documents. Is that correct? That is correct. You may proceed.
Thank you. May I share my screen? Yes, you may. Thank you.
Can everyone see that? I'll make it bigger.
Can everyone see my screen? Yes, if you go up a little bit, we'll see that.
Yes. All right. So this is the front of the property. Our client currently owns this retail
establishment, which currently serves food. We're asking for a variance in order to be able to
prepare, cook out food and serve food in this establishment at 3900 Brown Street.
You will see that there's a application for the change of use, as well as the project
appeal form, the deed showing the owner of the property, the owners should currently be on the
call. We met with the RCO, which sent a letter of support for this project. Therefore, we are
showing that there's no use of this property that would affect the neighbors or cause an
undue burden in this community. Part of what the discussion was at the time of the RCO hearing is
that there's limited availability in this area for hot cooked food. They do have retail
establishments that serve plenty of food that you can go and buy that's not hot, but they don't
have establishments where they can buy food that's cooked that's hot. So they wholly support this
project. I'll get to the plans where we're going to show the, as you saw there, that was the
certificate of tax clearance. Um, this is a photo showing the front of the property. Um, the view
is, um, looking towards 39th street. Um, the property is there at the building in the gray
building right there. Um, this is the right view. The next photograph shows the view of the building,
The view of the building looking to the left of the property down, I believe that's Brown
looking to
Street that you're looking at right there where the white car is, 3900 Brown Street.
This next photograph is another view of the property.
This is looking at the front of the property, as you can see right here, looking directly
at the front of the property.
That's the front view.
And then the next photograph should be the rear of the property, looking at the rear of the property.
If my screen will stop scrolling.
Just give me a moment.
All right.
So you see the rear of the property there?
yep okay so now i'm going to get to the these are the impacted neighbors that were notified
um in this area next to the location
this was the receipt to show the mailing that was sent out
here are the plans um i'm going to turn the screen so that we can see the plans
so the plans are showing the changes that would be made to accommodate the um takeout restaurant
that the uh that will be in this building
this next um plan shows what needs to be changed they're going to add um an outlet light fixtures
a smoke detector um other down lights a pull station and a fire alarm that would accommodate
the um takeout restaurant that they plan to have in this location
this is the refusal
and the rco summary in support of the change of use at this location
and as i stated the location change would not cause an undue burden on the community
nor would it cause any traffic congestion
or place any burden on any public facilities.
At this time, I would like to call Leah Leatherberry.
Leah Leatherberry.
If you're still in the virtual audience, ma 'am,
please raise your hand.
She's been allowed to speak.
Thank you.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Ma 'am, please unmute yourself.
Can you hear me now?
Yes, we do.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
My name is Leah Leatherberry, L -E -A -H, Leatherberry, L -E -A -T -H -E -R -B -U -R -Y.
Right.
Do you swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Counsel, go ahead.
Thank you.
Ms. Leatherberry, did you hear the testimony that I just gave with regard to your property at 3900 Brown Street?
Yes, I did.
Do you agree with and adopt the presentation and testimony given here today for your property at 3900 Brown street?
Thank you.
I have nothing further members of the board.
Do you have any questions?
Questions from the board.
No, Mr.
Chairman.
No, Mr.
Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience.
i see no further hands mr chair questions from the planning commission
comments yeah this is ron bednar city planning
could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please ron first name is ron r -o -n last
name bednar b -e -d -n -a -r right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth i do proceed this property is currently indicated for neighborhood commercial
This property is currently indicated for neighborhood commercial mixed use on the city
mixed juice on the city plan
plan. Given the site's physical condition and its use history, recommended request for
a special exception be granted.
Thank you, Ron.
MI 2021 -003 -950 -3900 Brown Street, I vote yes.
Harold Tenere, 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 board. Thank you. Is there
anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been heard yet? Mr. Chair, Ms. Tina Marie Russell
has her hand raised. Do I allow her to speak? Yep sure. Oh I'm sorry she must have put her hand down.
she might have put it out by mistake i'm not sure okay any other questions out there
okay that's it thanks everybody uh jason thanks for for moving the the thing along the way you
get people and find them for us we really appreciate it because it moves the whole
thing so thank you you're welcome sir and and uh thank you thank you executive director
your final, your first week
in office, so thank you
very much. Bill, I think you set the
record. I don't know
about that.
Unbelievable.
Thanks all, IT Bill.
Thank you, everybody.
Have a great night, everyone.
Thanks, everybody.
Thank you.
Bye -bye.
Have a good evening.