This is unit one.
So you only asked for two units?
That's right.
After my client engaged me about this matter,
I indicated that I did handle 12 East Silver
and this board granted it.
And based on the last square footage of 860 square feet,
I tried to keep my clients in line
with what happens if this was RM1.
And I didn't think it was appropriate
to have three units there under this.
Okay, so with two units,
can you come into 75% billable space?
no because we we cannot just because of the bedrooms we want to make this as spacious as
possible if we could we would honestly but just given the floor plan we would you know we're
hoping the board can allow us this additional variance for that as well thank you I appreciate
that uh our notice to the community um we um we met with the community december 8th at 5 30 pm
virtually we mailed notice of the community meeting to 158 addresses addresses are here
proof of mailing our application for appeal
Our deed to the property, showing that 40 Silver LLC is the owner of the property right
here, our certificate of tax clearance.
With that being said, I would like to have Mr. Chernak virtually raise his hand and to
adopt my testimony. Mr. Chernak, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Would you please, Mr. Chernak, could you please state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Hi, my name is Leonid Chernak. It's L-E-O-N-I-D-C-H-E-R-N-Y-A-K. Do you swear for him to tell
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you uh mr chernak you heard everything i
stated today yes is it true and correct yes and do you adopt it as your own testimony i do all right
thank you um so mr chair again if you look at the letter um from hasse cdc the three members
who are not on the board who attended the meeting who are in the affected area all voted in support
this project we obtained a petition from almost a third of the houses on that block who are in
support of it my understanding too um i don't want to you know misstate anything but my understanding
is that there are a few members of the community who are in the audience who want to express their
opinion about this project i understand um questions from the board no mr chairman no mr
chairman no mr chairman questions from the virtual audience or statements
there are no additional hands at this time hold on chair we have mr sloan folks with his hand up
mr folks you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair's instructions
good afternoon chairman brick cbe board
mr folks please state your name and spell for the court reporter
Yes, my name is Sloan Fuchs, S-L-O-A-N-E, F as in FIRE, O-L-K-S, representing the Office of Council Member Maria Quinonez Sanchez, room 508, City Hall.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do. Thank you.
Please proceed.
Thank you, sir.
the council member having received a letter from the coordinating rco uh offering opposition to
this variance request she does not support this variance request thank you okay
other um yes
the block captain
is texting me she's asking how
does she raise her hand
her name is Carmen Ortiz
she's trying to she's trying to speak now
she's having trouble
hold up hold up
yep I hear you
okay we I don't know where the hand went
we had someone up by the
with their hand up by the name of Jose but the hand
just disappeared
is jose cruz the hand is up again okay put him on mr cruz you can unmute yourself and wait for
the chair's instructions could you state your name and spell for the court reporter jose cruz
j-o-s-e-c-r-u-z do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Proceed
Yes, I see what's going on
On our block
I've been living on the block for the past 40 years
I'm 39 East Silver Street
And I see what
Lenny is doing on the block
He comes around
He cleans the lot
He makes sure it was cleaned
Before he even came around
All there was is trash
People
You got needles on the floor
You got a bunch of drug addicts
hiding inside of the lot so I think what he wants to do there is it's a great thing
not only for us that we live on the block but for for the community
so um you know I'm really really in favor of seeing this block change and we've been here
a long time we've seen a lot of stuff that's going on on the on the block and and you know
bringing bringing you back homes new homes to the block and you know just bringing families
he's back to the neighborhood where we can get rid of all these empty lots and the drug trafficking
back and forth, the people hiding in these lots and just, you know, sleeping there without, you
know, it's really bad. So I'm in favor for her. Thank you very much for calling in. Any other
comments from the virtual audience?
no no no other comments it appears to be a call-in user
uh could you allow the call-in user to um speak sure call-in user
please unmute yourself and wait for the chair to give you instructions to move forward
could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
yes my name is carmen ortiz c-a-r-m-e-n my last name is ortiz o-r-t-i-z
i live at a.e silver street and i am the captain of the block
you swear or firm to tell to wait a minute wait a minute do you swear or firm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes thank you proceed
since lenny came to the block we do see a big big difference um he helps out with the community
we have a community meeting once a month with um maria quinones
um jose cruz um a lot of our neighbors go to this meeting this is the first i heard that
Luria Comunas voted no because we all voted that that would be right for Lenny to
build this property that he's built and he'd like to build.
Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Any other comments?
I see no other hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Good afternoon Chair Bergman, members of the Board, David Fecto, City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change in the residential single-family zoning at
this location.
This neighborhood was rezoned in 2018 in accordance with the comprehensive plan at the request
of the Neighborhood Association.
It's nice that the applicant helps to clean the block, but that's not a viable reason
to grant a variance.
So there is no unique physical condition of this 860 square foot plot that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
We are aware of five duplexes on the block. However, the remaining homes are single family.
So the City Planning Commission is going to recommend that the board deny the requested variance for two units.
MI 2021-00396040 East Silver Street. I vote no.
3960 40 East Silver Street. I vote no. Harold Tenere, my vote is no. Thomas Holliman,
my vote is no. James Snell, my vote is no. Thank you. Okay. We're going to go back to
MI 2021 003961 3570 Cal and Met Street. Our attorney tells us that we cannot
say that you know you can't use that property in the future and things like that it has nothing
to do with the zoning board um the planning commission's in favor of it i'm going to call
for a vote mi 2021-003961-3578 cal and med street i vote yes with the revised plan of two pages
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes with Proviso
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with Proviso
James Snell, yes with Proviso
Ishmael Shaheed, yes with Proviso
Thank you
MI 2021-003387
432 Fanshawe Street
Long Crest Alliance Letter of Non-Opposition. Mr. Nockamson.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Alan Nockamson of Nockamson PC.
Alan, A-L-A-N, last name Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N, 123 South Broad Street,
Suite 1600, Philadelphia PA, 19109. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Nockmson. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Because I'm not sure if we have the entire exhibit packet. Have you sent in proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing? And have you met with the RCO? And do you have a letter?
Yes, in all respects.
Okay, great. You may proceed and yes, you may share your screen.
All right, thank you. Let me get to the right screen.
Um, okay, here I am.
This is an Alan Notkinson day, I see.
I see that.
You know, I haven't been in front of the board in weeks, and I was just, like, gearing up for this one.
Um, so, uh, anyway, 432 Fanshawe Street.
I think this will be a little bit smoother than 40 East Silver.
Um, this is a property where we're legalizing it in name only.
this is a property that my client has owned since 1975. When we have proof that we received
a certification statement from the City of Philadelphia saying that this is a six-unit
structure, we have the zoning permit that has been in effect since 1959. For a number of years,
he's had issues getting a rental license. We don't know why. We showed them exactly what we have.
We're doing the path of least resistance. We're just getting the variance.
So in this packet of materials you'll see our notice of refusal or a letter of non-opposition
from Longcrest Community Association where 45 members that were in the audience to vote
and all 45 voted in non-opposition to this project. Exhibit three you'll see our permit
which will show that since 1959 this has been a sixth family dwelling. You'll also see in exhibit
3 are certification statement which shows in 1975 the city confirmed that. Exhibit 4 are maps of the
area. Exhibit 5 are photographs of the property in the surrounding area. Exhibit 6 are just our
floor plans but in the photographs you'll see a couple things. First of which is no basement
living. Second of which is that we store our trash off of the side of our building where each of the
unit owners have access to that. Exhibit 7 is our proof of mailing for our community notice. Exhibit 8
is our application for appeal that we filed with the ZBA. Exhibit 9 is our deed to the property
showing that Joseph Wharton Hadley, Inc. is the owner of the property and has been since 1975.
Exhibit 10 is our certificate of tax clearance showing that we're a good standing with respect
to our real estate taxes. In the audience should be Mr. Haidley who will hopefully adopt my testimony.
Our notice of refusal, while this is an RSA 3 property and we were receiving a refusal,
the use significant over the course of almost 65 years says something very different.
Again, you received a letter dated January 12th of 2022, indicating that based on a vote of 45 people in non-opposition, zero against.
Based on a vote of 45 people in non-opposition, zero against this proposed variance request,
the Long Crest Community Association is in non-opposition to this project.
Again, showing evidence of that vote.
Just indicating just the notes for that meeting.
Here's our notice for a zoning permit showing 1959.
This was six units.
Again, our certification statement showing that this was six units in 1975.
Our maps of the area just showing where we are.
We're not that far off from Rising Sun Avenue.
Google Maps, photographs of the property.
As you can see, my client keeps the property in good repair.
As you can see, there's a significant side yard.
There's a side yard.
Here's the backyard.
Here's where the trash is stored on the side.
the multiple meters. Again, Fanshawe to the right of the property, Fanshawe to the left of the
property, nearby multifamily, 430 Fanshawe, 4515 Fanshawe, then just examples of like the interior
of the property. And then just the floor plans. Again, quickly to go through it, showing no
basement use. Unit number 1, which they know as unit number 7, is in the front. There's
a door to go up to a flight of steps, which is unit number 2. There's a unit back here,
which is unit 3 on the first floor. Unit 4 is you go up a flight of steps in the front.
It's right there. Go up another flight of steps is unit 5 and unit 6. Showing proof
Proof that we mailed notice for the community meeting, again, our community meeting was
November 18th at 6.30 p.m. It was mailed to 63 addresses. Those are the addresses, proof
of mailing, our application for appeal, our deed set property showing Joseph Wharton
Headley, Inc. is the owner of this property since 1975, and our certificate of tax clearance
showing they do not delinquent in their taxes. With that being said, Mr. Headley is in the
virtual audience. I would ask that he virtually raise his hand.
Alan, how do you spell your client's name?
H-E-A-D-L-E-Y.