Sir, if you're not there, we're going to move on.
Can you hear me?
No, we can now.
Can you?
Yeah, please state your name and spell it for the court reporter.
I'm Bart Levy, B-A-R-T-L-E-V-Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon.
Do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do indeed.
um and it appears that you've submitted all the required documents is that we have
thank you you may proceed let me see if i can share my screen
does that show up oh no it does not all right let me see if i can read through as best i can
because i believe you have the exhibits uh this is okay i'm sorry mr levy i'm sorry
We have to work with you to get this up on the screen.
We have other people who are viewing this as well.
So can you unshare and take this off the screen, open up your documents, and then try to share?
They're open now.
They're open now.
So now you're going to unshare first.
So now you're going to unshare.
All right, stop share.
Now have your documents there.
Now share again and click on your actual document.
I clicked on it.
Did you hit share first and then click on your document?
Share screen.
And then click on my document.
Okay, it looks like it's coming up.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Okay, so I have a notice of refusal, a site map, and building plans.
um i'm not 100 sure that whether i can put them all up but let's try the site location first
did that work yes okay all right this house was built in 1930 as a single family home
um it came into use over the years as a storage facility and fell out of use as a family home
and was zoned, as I understand it, industrial,
even though it sits in the middle of a clearly residential community.
My client seeks to re-outfit it as a single-family home
for either himself or his family to live in.
Next thing we have is the building plans.
Let's see. Does that show up? Good.
I hope it does.
um this simply shows the site or an elevation of the plans as it's going to look um once windows
are put in and the outer coverings are placed on um the floor plan um shows the typical locations
of bedrooms i mean this could be like a large four band a family four four bedroom house
with a kitchen it will have the effect of stabilizing the neighborhood because it's
difficult to predict what you can do with an industrial property but it's far easier
to plan and predict what a single family dwelling is going to be that's why we seek relief
that's why that's why what that is why we have appealed so this can be a single family home
okay thanks
are you is your client here he is oh sorry i should mention it was without uh it was five
votes to zero at the RCO in favor which I think I have also no I don't Mr. Chair we have a letter
of support from the 13th Ward yep yep RCO yep yep thank you so much Mr. Levy is your client here
he is um why don't you have him adopt your testimony mr bryant
mr bryant can you raise your hand or or come before this board
mr bryant
you have to enter the meeting now you have to enter the you have to enter the meeting now
um i'm sorry this is raise your hand very good thank you okay thank you has he raised his hand
yet last name bryant yes yes mr bryant you can unmute yourself and wait for the chairs
instructions mr bryant could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter
my name is john bryant j-o-h-n-b-r-y-a-n-t you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth yes sir mr levy proceed mr bryant have you heard my discussion with the
board and my testimony before the board this afternoon? Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Would you
adopt that testimony as your own? Yes, I do. And it was completely accurate and complete?
Yes, it was. Thank you. Thank you. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr.
thank you thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions from the virtual audience
i see no additional hands at this time chair planning commission good afternoon chair bergman
members of the board, David Fecto, City Planning Commission. Board, the comprehensive plan recommends
rezoning this property to residential single-family, so the proposal for a single-family home is
consistent with this recommendation, and the City Planning Commission recommends the board grant
the use of variance. Thank you. MI 2021-004040-1917, Denny Street, I vote yes.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
MI 2021-003961-3570, Cal and Med Street, Mr. Nocklinson, RCO East Falls Community Council, letter of support.
Mr. Nockamson is coming back now as a panelist chair
Good afternoon Mr. Chair and 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
Address 123 South Broad Street
Suite 1600
Philadelphia PA 19109. Thank you very much. You've already sworn. Our vice chair has a few questions
for you. Hi, Mr. Nockmson. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? I do. It appears that you've submitted all the required documents. Yes, we have. You may
proceed. All right. Thank you very much. Again, Alan Nockmson, Nockmson PC. First of all, I would
to wish everyone a happy uh new year thank you you're welcome uh may i share my screen yes
hi so i'm here to present 3570 uh calumet street uh it's in the east fall section of philadelphia
what you'll see in our presentation packet is our notice of refusal or a letter of support
from the East Falls Community Council. This is a request based on revised plans. So we
submitted the revised proviso form to Ms. Saletta a few days ago, and she had a chance
to review it, I believe. Maps of the area, photographs of the property in the surrounding
area, our plans and drawings, our proof of mailing of our community notice, our application
for appeal we filed, our deed to the property, and our certificates of tax clearance. This property
is owned by 3515 Midvale LLC. I have Mr. Jeremy Terror on the call. He will adopt my testimony.
Notice of refusal. So, this is a mixed use or mixed zoning property. We're looking to combine
3570, 3570R, 3572, and 3574 Calumet Street. Every property other than 3570R is RSA5. 3570R
is CMX 2.5. And the reason why we have all these refusals is the mixed zoning.
As this board knows, generally L&I adopts the most restrictive zoning applicable when there's
mixed-use zoning, and that's why we have many of these variances. All we're looking to do is
consolidate these properties, have three townhomes facing Calumet, which is not out of character,
as you'll see, and to have off-street parking by way of a common driveway and garage parking,
as well as additional parking, non-accessory parking for the building that's behind us on
midvale so the first refusal is the steep slope uh you know again we can't control the slope of the
property uh but it's not out of character to have single family homes on such a slope as you'll see
in the surrounding area so that's the first refusal the second refusal is the accessory
parking because these are rsa5 properties um and we don't have that common driveway
in a sense, we have a refusal as to that. Again, we're using one curb cut with a common driveway,
as you'll see, for parking not only for the townhome units, the three townhome units,
which will be part of this planned community, but also the non-accessory parking for the apartment building.
uh the uh non-accessory parking for the park uh for the apartment building that is in the rear
uh the next refusal has to do with the three dwelling units because this is an rsa5 property
we're not subdividing the property what we're doing is making this a planned community but
each of the townhomes are going to be single-family structures within the planned community
so it's form over substance these are really single-family homes so that's that refusal
The next refusal is the non-accessory surface parking lot. That is actually a referral. Again, we are planning to have dedicated parking to an apartment building facing Midvale, which this property owner is also building, but as of right, by way of a separate permit.
the next refusal has to do with the height of the property because we're on the slope
you know it's it's difficult to meet the 38 foot height requirements and you'll see from the letter
from the east fall community council we have worked with them over time over a year and we
have lessened that height to 41 feet 8 inches also from the design aspect because of the mansard roof
and the setbacks it also lessens the height of the building at least from the view of someone
walking along the street and then finally the last refusal has to do with the drive aisle
technically under the code we need a two-way drive aisle of 20 feet here it's a one-way drive
aisle of 12 feet which is not uncommon with a situation like this so again our letter from
the east falls uh community council um it was provided to the board uh well in advance um it
would say the history of this you know project originally we would we were looking to do an
apartment building here with uh accessory parking um that was you know flatly rejected by the
neighborhood in the community we eventually like adhered to their request of making these
into townhomes and we have three townhomes here on this significant lot with accessory
and non-accessory parking. Based on our year of working with the community, the community
ultimately enthusiastically support this project. The revised proviso plan form which was completed
and given to Ms. Saleta last week, again we're making two changes. One of the requests even at
community meeting once they removed the pilot house from the project which we you know we did
and we obtained their support the second is we just adjusted the garage setback
here's the drawings again this is just a site plan for the proviso plan form again stamped by the
architect if this board does grant this variance we ask that this board grant it by way you know
WITH A PROVISO STAMPED ONE-PAGE PLAN, RIGHT, I THINK IT'S ACTUALLY TWO, I'M SORRY, TWO PAGES, Z1 AND Z2.
EXCUSE ME, COUNSELOR. DO YOU KNOW WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE SITE IS STEEP?
I DO HAVE THE ARCHITECT ON THE LINE AND I CAN HAVE THEM ANSWER THAT QUESTION, SO I SHOULD
uh have uh someone from cano architecture uh to answer that question thank you you're welcome
uh maps of the area again just to show from a zoning perspective uh you know the zoning of
the properties the three facing calamity again our rsa5 properties this 3570r is the cmx two and a
half property and then after that we kind of break it down from a google map perspective so you can
see where we are here's the apartment building that's being built and there'll be common uh
parking between the parking uh the apartment building as well as some of the spaces here by
way of an easement the curb cut you're proposing is parking on that side of the street there is
parking on that side of the street but at the request of the community they actually wanted us
to have a curb cut with off-street parking and to allow, to alleviate, because the 3515
Midvale Street project, the building is as of right, which required no parking. As part of
our negotiations, they wanted us to dedicate some parking spots to the Midvale apartment building,
which we did. Thank you. You're welcome. Here's the front of the property facing Calumet.
Calumet to the right of the property, Calumet to the left of the property.
Again, as you can see, this is a townhome community, and that's what we want to do by way of this project.
And then just an aerial view of our properties, the three Calumet.
and then just an aerial view of our properties the three Calumet properties on Calumet and then
the Calumet property on the rear and this is where the apartment building will be built by
way of a separate project and then our plans and drawings again what we try to really do here
especially to again to fit the character of the neighborhood brick facade you know stone
But also, if you look for the height part of it, especially with the slope, we try to lessen the height of the building by having a two-tier mansard roof.
And then the fourth story is actually even set back even more.
So someone looking at the street, who's walking by on the street, is really not going to notice the height of the building by way of this two-tier structure.
And then here's just a site plan.
Again, the three single-family homes.
Here is the common driveway, the parking would be in the rear with the garages.
Here is the open area for the parking lot at the request of the community.
They wanted to not only make sure that there was parking for these three properties on
Calumet, but there was also going to be some parking for the apartment building on Midvale.
and then here is just the floor plan the common floor plan for each of the each of the single
family homes you walk up some steps you come into a common entryway there's a den to the right
there's a full bath you go down a couple steps you have the garage and storage area in the rear
you go up a flight of steps the second floor you have a common area with a living room dining room
and kitchen and the rear deck. You go up another flight of steps. You have two bedrooms, washer and
dryer, and two baths. And then you go up another flight of steps, and then you have a master suite.
We had our meeting in front of the community November 17th at 7 p.m. It was coordinated by
East Falls Community Council. There were 76 addresses we needed to communicate
their particulars about that meeting. It was a well-attended meeting. These are the addresses.
Proof of mailing. Our application for appeal to the ZBA. Our notice of refusal and referral.
The referral has to do with the non-accessory parking lot for the benefit of 3515 Midvale.
our project information form our deed to the property showing that it's owned by 35 mid
bail llc i have one of the members of the llc on the call jeremy tear
and finally our certificate of tax clearance for each of these properties
uh with that being said i will stop sharing my screen i have i would ask that mr tear virtually
raise his hand.
Can I ask a question?
Could you have one of the architects
come on and answer Mr. Holliman's
question? Oh, yes. I was going to do that, too.
I just wanted to...
Is it, you know...