i do chairman thank you yeah mr biddle you heard everything i stated today
Yeah, I'm willing to adopt your testimony as my own.
Okay, thank you. Mr. Bill, you're also a licensed real estate broker, is that correct?
Okay, and you did make attempts to rent this commercial space, right?
In the past, yes.
Yeah, and those attempts were unsuccessful?
Correct.
And in your professional opinion, would it be successful if you tried to rent out the commercials, if this had to be converted back to commercial space, would your efforts be successful?
Not to my knowledge, no.
Thank you.
We have a neighbor who's available for testimony, too, if you'd like to call him.
Sure. What's the name?
Mr. Biddle, what's the date?
Eugene Smith.
Mr. Smith, raise your hand, please.
Mr. Smith, you can unmute yourself or wait for the chair's instructions.
Mr. Smith? Okay, why don't we, questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience, anybody else out there have comments?
no hands only mr smith's okay is mr smith's hands up
i don't i do see a mr smith that he's on i'm sorry is the staff there
i'm here tanya okay there is there mr smith or is there someone else here to testify
i am muted mr smith and i told him to hold on for the chair's instructions i don't know what
happened okay mr smith state your name and spell for the court reporter you have to unmute
it seems that he's unmuted yes he's unmuted now it's muted he was we can continue on yeah
mr chair members of the board my understanding is that mr smith is a nearby neighbor who has
owned the property as long if if not longer uh than mr bill's company and he the proffer would
be that he would testify that he's in support of this project thank you thank you um planning
commission thank you chair bergman members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends this
property for residential multi-family use in 2015 the zoning at this property was changed to single
family however the planning commissioners at the time recommended against that zoning change
so the multiple principal uses are an existing condition the storage garages at the back of the
building have been recognized by l and i in previous zoning permits and the proposed dwelling
unit density is consistent with the comprehensive plan's recommendations. So, the Planning Commission
recommends the Board grant the requested variances.
Chair, Tanya, if I may interject a thought. We did receive in a Q&A, as Mr. Natchimson said,
Mr. Smith is in favor of the project, but we also have a member from the RCO, Ms. Weiss,
whose hand is raised if it's agreeable to you may she uh put it sure yes she can
yes hello good afternoon hi could you could could you do me a favor state your name and
yes hello good afternoon hi could you could could you do me a favor
spell for our court reporter allison weiss a double l i s o n weiss w e i s s solo germantown
civic association thank you do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth yes thank you i just wanted to make myself available since there seemed to be some
confusion uh so if there were any questions i was at the meeting that if i could help answer
well i guess the only question would be are you in favor of the project or not
we sent a letter of non-opposition okay that's fine thank you thank you perfect okay um
MI 2021-00380467
West Queen Lane. I vote yes with provisos about using
the trash storage. Carol Tennery, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, yes with proviso.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Al.
I'm sorry, Chair. This is Tonya again. Mr. Nakasso, may I please request that you state the exact proviso on the record, just so we're clear?
Yes. My proviso would be trash storage in one of the accessory spaces.
Which is right next door to the residential, if I remember.
That's right. That's right. Exactly.
Thank you. So very kindly.
Thank you.
MI 2021-003-766-620-Eastrod Avenue, Oleg Sokoloff, RCO Fishtown Neighbors, letter of support, Mark Squilla, letter of non-opposition.
Oleg Sokolov.
Good afternoon, Chair Bergman, members of the board.
Chair, it's nice to meet you and be before you for the first time.
Everyone, it's nice to see everyone.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Sure, it's Oleg Sokolov, O-L-E-G, Sokolov, S-O-K-O-L-O-V,
Rabinovich Sokolov Law Group
1700 Market Street
Suite 1005
Philadelphia PA 19103
Do you swear for him to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Okay, our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Sokolov.
Have you, do you agree
with the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
And have you submitted all of the required documents?
Yes, we have.
Thank you.
you may proceed thank you very much members of the board good afternoon again um this property
has just to give a little bit of a background on before i go through my exhibit packet
this property was rolled up in a rezoning that occurred on gerrard avenue between burks and
wilt street uh we're unsure if it was 2014 or 2016 but long story short a number of
single-family residents were rezoned to CMX2. My client Mr. Tomac and his wife Monica Bernal
purchased this property with the understanding that it was a single-family residence. It had
always been a single-family residence and only upon submission of some minor interior alteration
permits did they find out that this property is in fact zoned CMX2. We also found out at our RCO
meeting before the Fishtown Neighbors Association that there were a number of other properties that
suffered from this same fate as a result of the rezoning. So that's just a simple
background on what's going on. If I may take you through my exhibit packet please.
can everybody see that yes okay great here's our notice of refusal as stated a single family
dwelling request in a cmx2 district um just please note that there are no dimensional variance
requests or anything in that matter the all of the alterations are going to be within the existing
footprint of the property. Here's the deed to the property. Mr. Tomac and Ms. Bernal bought this in
May of 2021. Our tax clearance certificate. I have a few timeline photos of the subject.
I have a few timeline photos of the subject premises here it is the black door here this
is in 2007 the red door here in 2011 the red door once again in 2015 and most recently on Google
it's 2019 I believe the door has actually changed color one more time if I recall correctly but
we'll get to that when I present the notice poster. So here's a zoning map. Basically all of these
or a number of these properties and some on the north side of Girard have been rezoned to our
to CMX2 and are in fact single-family properties. Here's our project information form.
our appeal application
which has the additional information
here are our certificates of mailing
nope nope still still a green door
pardon me went a little too fast there
There are notice posters.
We met with the Fishtown Kensington Area Business Improvement District on September 22nd where
we received a letter of support and then met with the Fishtown Neighbors Association on
December 6th. And here is our letter of support from them as well.
At this time, I'd like to ask Mr. Tomac to just raise his hand, please, so he can adopt my
testimony and give any additional. Mr. Tomac, you can unmute yourself. We'll wait for the chair's
instructions. Hello, everyone. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, Mr. Bergman. It's Gino Tomek, G-I-N-O-T-O-M-A-C.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Okay. Go ahead, counsel.
Thank you. Mr. Tomek, you've heard my presentation and my testimony today?
And do you attest to its authenticity and it being true and correct?
And is there anything that you would like to add?
Mr. Tramag? I would just like to thank everyone for their time. Me and my wife are really eager
to move into this house and start a family here in Philadelphia. So just excited for this next
chapter in our lives. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Tramag. I forgot to ask, just for the
record, will you adopt my testimony today as your own? Yes. Okay. Thank you very much.
Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. Questions from the virtual audience?
i see no other heads at this time chair questions from the planning commission
good afternoon chair bergman and members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location the zoning in fishtown was changed
from rm1 residential multifamily to commercial mix to commercial mixed use at the time
I'm sorry, in 2015, in accordance with the comprehensive plan and at the request of the
Neighborhood Association. Since this is a long-standing non-conforming use, the City
Planning Commission recommends the Board grant the use of variance. Thank you very much. MI 2021-003-766-620
East Gerard Avenue. I vote yes. Good evening. My vote is yes. Thomas Holloman. My vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Okay, thank you.
We have one more case from the 2 o'clock start.
I'm going to take a quick break here for the court reporter to get a little bit of a break.
We'll come back and handle that case, and then we're not going to break.
We're going to go right into the 3.30.
So let's get a five-minute break right now.
Is that okay, Tanya?
Yes, sir, Deputy.
I'm answering.
Let's go.
Here you go.
Perfect chair.
Thank you very much.
You're welcome. Good luck.
You're welcome. Good luck.
Sometimes you're here.
Thank you.
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How are we looking, Tanya?
We are ready when you are, Chair.
Okay. Let's start.
We are good to go, sir.
Okay. Okay.
MI 2021-003952-6237-45 Germantown Avenue.
Both attorneys have been sworn before.
Could you re-admit Adam Laver and also Hal Shermer?
Mr. Laver is coming back in as a panelist now.
Thank you.
Mr. Shermer is also coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board.
Mr. Laver, just mention your name for the record so we start again.
You've been sworn.