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.