Anybody else in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have someone under call-in user. Call-in user. You can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Good morning. Could you state your name and spell for our court reporter?
Call-in user 2. If you're there, please unmute yourself.
Okay, I'm sorry, I'm going to pass on the testimony and go in agreement with Point Breeze
Tiffany Green from Concerned Citizens of Point Breeze.
Okay, you were sworn in earlier, Tiffany.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chair.
all right 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 5
zoning which prohibits this type of parking access from the street the applicant's hardship
claim is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances or conditions of the
property and the variance would remove at least one on-street parking space and degrade pedestrian
safety and comfort. The age or the ability of the occupants while certainly relevant to
the applicant's personal life are not relevant to the provisions of the zoning code and the
grant of the variance would be a permanent change to the physical condition of the property
regardless of the occupants and I just want to also note that adjacent non-conforming
off-street parking curb cuts are not grounds for hardship the city planning commission recommends
that the board deny the variance MI 2021 003350 1344 South Opal Street I vote no my vote is no
Carol Tenere Thomas Holloman my vote is no James Snell my vote is no Ishmael Shahid my vote is no
Okay, thank you, the board.
Thank you.
MI 2021 003388 1519 West Venango Street.
RCO Nicetown Tioga Improvement, letter of support.
Mr. Anastasio is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Good morning again, Mr. Chair.
Vern, just state your name for the court reporter.
You've already been sworn.
It's Verne Anastasio, V-E-R-N-A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
It's Vern Anastasio, V-E-R-N-A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Mr. Anastasio, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Okay, it appears that in the notes, you have submitted everything required, so you may proceed.
Thank you.
This is 1519 West Venango Street.
It's for the construction of a two-family dwelling.
And we're here because it's zoned RSA 5.
I want to take you through the plans first.
There's a corner property.
So we'll have two separate entrances, one fronting and one on the side.
We have a proposed basement area with utility room, sort of like a family room and a bedroom within a well.
And then the first floor being another two bedrooms and a full kitchen and living room.
um here's the corner property like i said and it's uh on a block full of multi-family
uh development here's the proposed second floor would be the living room large sort of uh open
area with a eat-in kitchen a bedroom and then two other bedrooms on the very top third floor
there's several multi-family homes on this particular block including adjacent properties
and across the street we have apartment towers as well
this is the letter that was mailed out to all
immediate neighbors and we met with the registered community organization
we met on november 16th at 6 p.m and we invited everyone today to january 12th meeting hearing i'm
sorry also think it's important uh that you see the history of the property uh this property has
never been a single family home in fact it was a four-family and a business in the 50s and 60s
uh and it was and it remained that a multi-family dwelling
until the property was demolished here again it was a four four family dwelling without the
business so that was the last known use of the property and then when it was demolished
it sat fallow for for quite some time again four family four family a long history of four family
dwelling we did in fact meet with the community as i told you and we have a letter of support
with one proviso for a local management company which my client agreed to there's 125 pieces of
individual mail that went out on the first uh mailing and the second mailing another 125 pieces
we did meet with the community twice uh we have the tax certification uh and because it's a corner
property because it is surrounded by other multi-families because of the long history of
multi-family use in this particular on this particular lot uh we do believe the two-family
dwelling uh is the most appropriate use and we respectfully request that my client be granted
the relief we believe building a single family brand new construction on this block uh it would
be an anomaly it would you know be it would be a white elephant uh there there is no such thing
there is no such uh product on this block or any other block anywhere near this lot and it would
incredibly difficult to market and sell. And with that, I'm going to ask my client
Zongmi Zhu to raise his hand. Z-O-N-G-I-M-I.
Mr. Liu, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, good morning chair, members of the board. My name is...
Hi, could you state your name and spell it for our court reporter?
Absolutely. Lijon Liu, last name is Liu, L-I-U, first name Lijon, L-I-J-I-O-N.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you, sir.
Lijon, did you hear my presentation to the board today?
yes is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes and do you adopt it as your own
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
And do you...
testimony yes were you present at both community uh meetings uh whereupon they expressed support
for the project yes thank you no further uh material mr chair we're open for questions
questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission thank you chair bergman ian hegarty
for the philadelphia city planning commission uh members of the board the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the existing RSA-5 zoning. While we agree that there are several
adjacent non-conforming structures on this block with multifamily uses, we simply can't
support the hardship claim here because there's no evidence of unique physical circumstances
or conditions of the property since it's a normally sized corner lot that's been cleared
of all structures. So we have to recommend that the board deny the variance.
mr chair i respect the planning commission's position uh i just want to point out that market
conditions uh dictate uh that we seek some sort of relief the near neighbors um believe that's
the right way to go they don't want an empty single family home sitting there uh and the
actual reality of all the other properties being multi-family actually is is de facto evidence
that a single-family home built from the ground up would be a white elephant in this community.
Okay, thank you. Our counsel, is that an enforceable proviso, a management firm?
This is Rebecca Cole. Vern, can you please repeat that proviso that you
indicated and what kind of agreement it is? My client just agreed to hire a local management
company, you know, from the community to manage the property.
Chair, I'm unsure if that's enforceable, but it sounds good.
Okay, okay.
MI 2021-00-
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Chair.
This is Tanya.
No, it would not be enforceable by license and inspections.
M.I. 2021-003388, 1519 West Benango 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. Thank you. Hey Vern, could you stay on please?
yes sir mi 2021 003519 3632 north 16th street rco nicetown tioga improvement letter of support
verne state your name please again for the record sure it's verne anastasio v-e-r-n
A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O.
Our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Yes, sir.
Good morning. Do you agree to wait through any of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Based on these notes, it appears that the required documents have all been submitted, so you may proceed.
Thank you.
3632 North 16th Street is an existing structure.
It's been abandoned and run down for quite some time.
It is on a block that is severely depopulated. And those properties that are populated,
many of them are, in fact, multifamily dwellings. As you can see from this aerial view,
we've got a dozen empty lots on North 16th Street right across the street. We've got
several more at the end of the block. And in between these lots, we have some boarded up
homes so as a result my this property has laid uh pretty much neglected for quite some time for many
years uh again there are lots of multi-families on the block here's one right as a triplex down
the street uh most of the properties though are duplexes we have met with the community of nice
town tioga there is a letter that went out we met with them twice once in november and once in
December let me show you some plans I think that might be helpful before we do
anything else so again like I said this is a this is part of a twin
so again like i said this is uh this is part of a twin uh much of the block is either vacant or
multi-family uh we have uh unit one which is a rather straightforward one two-bedroom apartment
with a common entry and then unit two
another two-bedroom unit on the second floor and the third floor plan with additional
um space and let's see here
the property is pretty much falling apart my client purchased this and would in fact like
to put in the two-family dwelling.
There's the rear yard.
There's the block itself.
Again, many of them,
multi-family dwellings,
two and three families.
There's a wall.
Did you say two or three?
Which one is it?
At one point you said two,
then you said three.
I'm sorry,
the application is for a three-family dwelling.
I didn't mean two.
Yeah, it's one per floor.
Right.
First, second, and third floor, as the plans suggest.
My apologies if I sit too.
And it's, again, we met with the community group.
They are in full support.
And, again, we met with them twice.
123 pieces of individual mail went out the first time.
And, again, in December, given the condition of the block,
condition of the other homes on the block or the multi-family nature of whatever homes do exist on
the block uh we do believe a single family home here would be difficult to to market and and and
fill the near immediate neighbors agree and as a result we respectfully request granting of the
variance uh in with support of the rco of course with that i'd like my client ms blair b-l-a-i-r
Atiyah, to raise her hand to be recognized.
Ms. Blair, if you're in the audience, can you please raise your hand?
Chair, no hands have come up at this time.
So, Vern, you're an officer of the court, and we can stipulate that she would adopt my presentation as her own testimony.
Please, thank you.
Right.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Vern, I have a question.
You said it's a twin.
What's the attached property?
It's a single-family home, and that adjacent neighbor was at the meeting.
Pardon me?
that adjacent neighbor was at the meeting okay all right questions from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair questions from the planning commission
uh thank you members of the board ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 3 zoning at this site. Again,
just noting that the applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique
physical circumstances or conditions of the property, which is a basic requirement to
establish unnecessary hardship. I would note for the board that economic conditions or return on
investment do not establish hardship for use variances. City Planning Commission recommends
that the board deny the variance.
And I respect the Planning Commission's position.
Again, the depopulation here speaks for itself.
And the brand new single-family home
could not be supported.
And as a result, that's why the near neighbors
would like to see this property brought back to new life.