Right. Do you swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Thank you. Proceed.
I want to say good morning to everybody and thank you for allowing me to speak.
I do ask for patience so that I can articulate my thoughts properly. I'm not as good as everybody
else that's been speaking so far. I am a near neighbor. I live on the Randolph Street,
right behind where the new addition would be. So my yard would be impacted by this new
addition that would be going up. I noticed that, well, I would like to say that I do
share and agree with statements made by Jessica Rodriguez and Brett Cohen. I was in attendance
of the community meetings both in October and both two days ago. I will, you know, state that
I will, you know, state that I am not in favor of this project, although, like, I do appreciate
I am not in favor of this.
the great efforts at which they, to preserve the property and its historical value, and
I do appreciate a lot of the concessions that they did make. I did want to point out that
one of the, one of the things that we had spoken about in the meeting was that the idea of having
a mural put on the back wall so that the neighbors wouldn't have to look at a 66 foot black wall in
their backyard. And we were told that the owner or Mr. Toner's client was not opposed to that and
was wondering if they were still planning on offering that as, you know, as a way to not make
it like being crushed under the black wall that when you go out to your backyard. I would like
to say that yes the the parking is definitely uh an issue we are severely crippled um in this area
with a lot of new additions that are coming up one that is not very far away i think i believe
it's on marshall which is the next block over from uh 6th street that i if i'm not mistaken i may be
wrong but i think it has like 88 units or something like that so um that was definitely an issue and
one of the reasons why I'm opposed to this project. But that's all I really wanted to say.
Thank you very much for calling in and your comments. Mr. Turner, do you want to respond?
I would, Mr. Bergman. Thank you very much. In terms of the mural, we indicated on Monday that
our clients are open to the mural. It's not a zoning contingency or condition, and we remain
open to it. The only one of the reasons we don't want to commit today to any specific mural is
it truly would only be visible by the Randolph Street neighbors. So we're talking about
four or five lots that would be able to see this and if we were going to commit to any mural we
would want input from all the neighbors as to the artist selected and the type of mural that would
go up but we certainly remain open and we we told the neighbors that we'd be willing to work with
them going forward if that is what the community truly wanted, was a mural for those backyard
areas. And in terms of her other comment, and also the comment by Mr. Cohen about the new
proposal and underground parking, so what they're referring to is what's known as the former movie
theater lot that has been completely demolished is now proposed for redevelopment. Now they have
the great benefit of completely demolishing the existing structures, and those structures are all
gone and so when they add their underground parking they're able to do so easily because
they were able to demolish all their structures again going back to the core component of this
proposal the reason why it's garnered so much support is we're preserving historic structures
and so we just we hope the neighborhood is understanding that to cut into the historic
fabric is something that's going to not be supported by the philadelphia historic commission
and the vast majority of community members who want to see this structure return to its grandeur.
All right. Thank you, Mr. Toner. Any other comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have a Carolina Ross. Ms. Ross, you can unmute yourself and speak now.
Hi. Ms. Ross, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
yeah it's carolina k-a-r-o-l-i-n-a last name is ross r-o-s-s thank you do you swear or firm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed please um i'd like to second
the opinions of miss rodriguez and mr cohen and i'm sorry i forgot the name but whoever just spoke
she as well. I'm also a near neighbor. I reside on 6th Street between Girard and Poplar,
and I'm completely opposed to this proposal because of the impact that these 40 units would
have on residential parking. It's already extremely difficult to find parking. The school right across
the street, the city school, limits parking. About 50% of parking, half the street, is closed between
7 o'clock and 4 30 p.m. for all parking and then overflow goes to 7th Street which is already
as the previous speaker said all taken up by the Marshall Street property
and those 80 units. I know that there's a property on Poplar and 6th Street that faced a similar
issue and they provided 29 spots of parking in their building for their 39 units. So something
can definitely be done about it. Claiming that their residents can rely on public transportation
doesn't guarantee that they won't all have cars with them and rely on 6th Street to park.
There's no parking here.
There's no parking here. If they're not providing parking, this is not a good idea.
If they're not providing parking, this is not a good idea, in my opinion.
Thank you very much for calling in.
Is there any other comments?
Chair, we have Charles Adams.
Mr. Adams, you can unmute yourself or wait for the chair.
Hi, this is Charles Adams.
Can you do me a favor?
Could you spell your name for the court reporter, please?
Yes, C-H-A-R-L-E-S-A-D-A-M-S.
Do you swear for them to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
I am the neighbor who is on, I own 1217 and 1219 North 6th Street.
I am just on the north side of the project and clear a bloody wall with the project.
And I moved on to 6th Street in 1986.
And for 36 years, I've been really hoping someone would do something positive with this
building.
And that being said, I would like to speak on, yes, I would like to see this project
take place.
Thank you for taking the time to call on.
Thank you, sir.
Any other comments?
Chair, we have no other hands at this time.
Thank you.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chair Bergman, Ian Hegarty with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends cmx 2.5 zoning at this location on
gerard avenue the proposed dwelling unit count is consistent with the recommended zoning district
and the proposed height we feel is the minimum variance necessary to preserve the portions of
the existing structure that are close to the street there is no refusal for parking as the
zoning district does not require off-street parking city planning commission recommends
the board grant the variances with two provisos as stated previously height not to exceed 60
excuse me height not to exceed 66 feet and no more than 38 dwelling units thank you very much
MI 2021 003351 527-37 West Rod Avenue. I vote yes with revised plans of two pages.
Mr. Chairman, we had a... Wait a minute. We got to let everybody vote.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with both provisos.
Thank you, Mr. Turner.
Yes, Mr. Chairman, the proviso for and that was included within our packet includes both provisos that were requested.
Then they're right, the two-pages revised plans.
Thank you very much.
All right, here we go.
MI 2021, 003346, 611 North 20th Street, Spring Garden Civic Association, Letter of Support,
Pro Se, Jamie Luntz and Philip Yarborough.
Chair, Mr. Luntz is coming back in now as a panelist.
I appreciate it. Thank you.
good morning can you hear us yes could you do me a favor please could you uh state your name and
spell it for our court reporter please sure my name is jamie lontz j-a-m-i-e-l-o-n-t-z
my name is philip yarborough p-h-i-l-i-p-y-a-r-b-e-r-o-u-g-h all right do you both swear
to affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing about the truth yes yes our vice chair
has a few questions for you hi good morning it appears that you've submitted all the required
documents that are that we've requested and there is also a letter of support from the spring garden
civic association so you may proceed thank you um good morning uh mr chairman and uh board members
I'm speaking on behalf of Jamie, my partner.
We appreciate the opportunity to present our case today, and we hope you'll bear with us as pro se applicants.
When Jamie and I purchased our house back in fall of 2020, it was our vision to erect a second-story deck in the rear of our home.
And the inspiration for that deck really came from our next door neighbors who had previously erected a deck that is substantially similar to the one that we wish to build.
And so I'd like to pull up a picture of what they've done, and that will give you just a flavor for what we'd like to do as well.
And so I'd like to pull up a picture of what they've done.
So as you can see, our next door neighbor's deck is seven feet deep from their house, which allows for a three-foot setback.
What we didn't know at the time when we obtained our architectural plans, which were approved by
an engineer, was that in the interim between when our neighbors built their deck and when we submitted
our plans, apparently the zoning had changed in terms of a rear setback from three feet to seven
feet. So as it currently stands, to the extent we would build our deck under the current zoning
zoning requirements, we'd only be able to build a three-foot deck, which we don't feel would be
a usable or even a safe structure. So today we are requesting a variance from the seven-foot
setback to a proposed three-foot, three-inch setback, which would be about three inches
um farther from the our neighbors property than our um than our adjacent neighbors and we're also
proposing a um another setback in terms of our adjacent neighbors i think for vertical supports
distance from lot lines the minimum is 18 inches we're requesting nine inches um with respect to
our adjacent neighbors we've received um letters of consent from both of them we showed them our
plans and they're in support of our proposed project and even our rear neighbors um one of
our rear neighbors on on his own accord submitted a letter of support for a project which we were
very much appreciated um so as you can see um if you want to turn to the other one
This is our backyard, the plan that shows the comparison of what ours would look like.
So basically this is what our rear deck would look like.
We've received a letter of support from our RCO and as you'll see in their letter, they've
stated that um they view the deck as adding value to our home uh while at the same time not
creating any potentially adverse effects for other nearby properties or property owners
um um so you know that's really our case today and we're hoping that you know we can create this
deck and that'll uh add value to our home and help us to love it even more than we already do
okay questions from the board no mr chairman yes mr chair no 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 comprehensive plan recommends
no change the existing zoning on this site. The proposed dimensional variances here are minimal
and consistent with the adjoining property and other properties on this block. City Planning
Commission therefore recommends that the board grant the variances. Thank you. MI 2021-003346-611
North 20th 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.
Thank you.
Thank you.
MI 2021-003463, 735 East Rod Avenue,
Fishtown Neighbors Association, letter of support.
Councilman Squill letters of non-opposition
Darlene Thray
Mr. Chair it's 725
Okay 725
Easter Island
Council
Sarah we have Ms. Threat coming back
as a panelist now
Thank you
good morning commissioners darling on behalf of the applicants
good morning could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter please
darlene threep d-a-r-l-e threep t as in thomas h-r-e-a-t
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes proceed well i'm sorry our vice chair has a few questions hi darlene do you agree to waive
the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy hi carol yes i do it appears that you've
submitted all the required documents uh there's a letter from councilman squilla of non-opposition
fishtown neighbors association has submitted a letter of support and you may proceed thank you
Thank you.
you see my screen now yep good morning commissioners this is a straightforward case here today
i'm showing you my presentation package with alyssa that i submitted to you today
We have the refusal, the appeal, the product information form, tax information, D, pictures, plans, community letter, kit of mailing.
I'm just going to scroll down very quickly to give you a project here.
Taking my computer a little time to catch up here. Here we go.
Commissioners, this is a property that's in question today.
I'm showing you here a picture of posting of this property.
Basically, this is a property that is next to, but this property has never had a history
of a commercial use for the properties in the block, except the two corners properties
have a use.
My clients bought this property back in 2019.
They thought it was a single-family property, and they started renovating this property.
Unbeknownst to them, it was a CMX2, which requires a commercial use on the first floor.
Before we follow this appeal to the Zoning Board of Adjustment to allow this property to simply be used as a single-family residence.
Community Association, the Fishtown
721. We did receive it. It was in excess of 40. No one pretty much had an objection as a single
a family dwelling. Basically, we're in the sense of renovating it and are seeking approval from
the board. I'm going to show you the property. This is the adjacent property. It's the same.
The property over here is the same. It's used for the single family. It changes to the footprint
of this building. The only change that will be made to the building is that update the siding
in the front of this building. I'm just going to us to the plans very quickly.
And if you'd like to see the exterior or interior pictures, I'll show them to you.