you'll testify bring him on for the yep i just wanted to make sure you know you that you um and
know why you've been refused for um your proposed project yes ma'am okay all right thank you because
you have a lot of refusals i have a letter from uh apmi correct correct yes it's in the exhibit
your brother can come on and i'd say he'll work the screen for you thank you i have promoted bar
levy i am promoted everyone can you see my screen okay you're fine and uh we're going to let him
testify okay wonderful all right so here we have the refusals um we have accessory parking refusal
and uh uh i believe on the one it's really the allowed uh occupied area 75 and we have
one that is 76 the other one is 75.7 percent uh and then the height the allowed is 38 feet and
and we are requesting 40 feet 4 inches. If you can move up. I mean, that's the refusals
are identical to all three of them. Thank you, Bora.
Bunch of these. Bunch of these. Bunch of information. Those deeds.
Yeah, the deeds that are showing me as the owner, you can scroll down, we have the tax
You can scroll down, we have the tax certs for all three of them, same things, the tax
search.
so it's for three properties. Zoning posters for the three. You can scroll down, you can
see it to the different structures. These are just pictures of the blocks, the 1500
block and 1600 block of North Franklin. Okay, that's the street department curb cut calculations.
bar correct me from butchering yeah it's both the zoning submission and the street prerequisite
we submitted the same material listen listen listen he'll do the testimony and if he has to
later he'll call you as a witness okay so let him testify and then we'll figure out if we need to
thank you mr chair uh these are proof of mailing yep all the three
And we have the letter from APM.
I guess they're specifying all three properties we presented at the same time.
As you see, it was a big meeting, two of support, one opposed, and one of non-opposition.
Just a sign-in sheet for the APM meeting.
And here we start with the rendering for the three properties.
So I'm basically going to build a single family homes, asking for parking.
Those three lots I owned since 2015 and actually they were approved for triplex as before.
um i do live in the neighborhood not too far from there and uh well there's really
a lot of density of multi-family in my in my opinion and i decided to change that uh
that application and just build a single family i'm not sure if it's for rent or for sale as of yet
if you can continue bar that's the aerial map of the three sites
Sun study. And again, pictures of the North Franklin Street. I guess this is the 1500 block, and it's all the 1500 block, actually.
and more renderings
and here are the floor plans so on the first floor we're going to have um grade level parking
and the first bedroom we're going to dig down only three feet and the first bedroom will be there
um so not really too deep into the ground as you see there is actually a door from the
from the parking area um going into the bedroom and another interior door
with access to the stairs to take you up to the to the first floor supposedly of the
of the house which is the living room kitchen and it's a kind of a split level
that you go up two steps from the living room into the into the kitchen um on the second floor
of the of the house we have a front bedroom uh and then an office study in the rear you know
all of them are a nice size bedroom in my opinion um one bathroom and then a washer and dry room on
the second floor and very typical Philadelphia townhouse uh other than in my opinion the design
is a little bit uh nicer and cooler but uh going up to the third floor is the master bedroom um
with a large walk walk-in closet and a large master bathroom and then access to the roof deck
right there. A nice small mini bar on the third floor, so they don't have to walk down
all the way to the kitchen to grab a drink. And it's, yeah, if you have any questions
about the plant or...
All three are the same?
oh yes yes they're all the same size lots 17 by 66 uh all three and exactly the same design okay
oh yes yes they're all the same size lots 17 by 66 so
here are the elevations as you see three feet uh three feet down just in a
in a in a certain area of the house where that bedroom is
I think it'll be a nice addition to the to the block.
So just out of curiosity, behind the garage, is there a light for that bedroom back there?
A light?
No, light coming in.
You know what?
I was right before the meeting.
I was asking Bar and we're going to put a very large window that overlook in the backyard.
And you can see in the other plans that there is an egress window.
but obviously it's not enough light in my opinion so yes we are able to put a
a nice window for that bedroom although there is already an egress window but uh
definitely adding a window is a is a must
how many other properties on the block already have curb cut and um like within lot parking
opportunities bar can you show me that
so a lot of them uh just a general answer but uh
here is um here are some pictures of the
this is actually you see the address 1531
north franklin uh that prestige pavilion
and 1519 or Franklin has a curb cut and 1533 and 1535. Basically, I labeled all the pictures
just to show you all the curb cuts that are on the block. And then has your curb cut already
been approved by streets? Yes. Yes, ma'am. Including the one on the corner? Just to like
make sure you get the correct okay yes these are just the same unit designs that we saw
for another site yeah yeah okay but 14 25 note 7 correct on september 2nd yes
yes i have a question about the um the support for the uh development um so there was a small
number of folks that voted um were there residents from franklin street at the rco meeting that voted
in support and particularly i think one of the houses is next door to another property um do
you have their support um i didn't directly approach the neighbor i just sent a mailing
and whoever came to the meeting had the opportunity to support or object
and which which are you talking about which one of the direct if you go to the rendering that
you had of the block I'm not sure which address but it looks like that the one that's further
down I don't know which one that this is they're adjacent to homes already so there will be adjacent
homes already so you don't have the support of those residents who you haven't reached out to
those residents? I didn't specifically talk. I believe one of them is a rental and actually 1537
North Franklin is next to 1539 North Franklin. And that is a three unit building. That is all
the units are two unit building. I'm sorry that the units are rented. And the other side of 1537
is a house with a curb cut already.
But no, I think you're asking about 1541 North Franklin.
I did not specifically talk to that property owner.
Questions?
Questions from our attorney?
No questions at this time, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience or the audience here?
yes mr chairman i'm sorry i i was i was muted so you would give me coffee okay i have a question
about the um this this bedroom that's on the same floor there with the garage yes so it's just a
bedroom there's no bathroom down there at all no there is where is that right
here if you can see on the the cursor where right there as soon as you come
where right there as soon as you come down the stairs if you look at the door
down the stairs
for the garage that you're walking down the three stairs and right to your left
there's a door to the to the full bathroom okay all right um okay did you
see it no I'm not seeing what I usually see which is you know the shower the
Okay. Sorry. Okay. I see it now. All right. And then I guess, is there some reason why
we have this other bedroom down there in a single family?
A reason? I think it's our design that that property honestly doesn't have
uh um it's not gonna have a rear bedroom on the second floor i we thought i thought that it's nice
to have almost a separate uh unit for it for a teenager or uh a nanny if somebody can uh can
afford so it's uh almost kind of uh utilizes the separate area all right okay thank you thank you
comments from the virtual audience yes chair there are two hands the first one is
last name beginning with the s okay they will be allowed to speak thank you you're welcome
hi everybody hi could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer yes my name is
cecilia schlinitz c-e-c-i-l-i-a-s-c-h-l-e-i-n-i-t-z and i affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor i am a neighbor please proceed i live at 1539 north
Franklin Street this is a two-unit rentable home and we me and some other
neighbors have a couple of concerns namely affordability this is an up-and-coming
area it's close to Northern Liberties it's close to Fishtown which already
have really high rents as opposed to the rest of the city and this was really a
great area to move into, especially just graduating out of college. And our issue is if this if these
three units are single family homes, the price of these homes is really going to drive up the
cost of our home, the cost of property taxes, and then our rent, which is our first concern.
Our next concern is that with the current sidewalk cuts and the garages on the block,
people park their cars in front of their garages, which they're not supposed to do, but they do
anyway, which really makes the sidewalk inaccessible for us to walk, to run on the sidewalk. There is
one of our disabled neighbors at the corner of Jefferson and Franklin in a wheelchair who could
not get down the sidewalk if you wanted to because people park their cars in front of their garages.
And then the other thing is across the street from me on Franklin Street, there are a lot of
single family or duplex homes with yards which are really nice and fenced in but we on this side of
the block like not everyone can afford to have a yard attached to their house so it's nice for us
to have this green space right now part of it's being used as a garden people walk their dogs
there so we're concerned about that space being inaccessible for people who can't afford to have
their own yard. Thank you very much for taking the time and expressing yourself.
Do we have anyone else? Yes, Isabel Helmich. Okay. They're allowed to speak. Hi, Isabel,
could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer? Hi, my name is Isabel Helmich.
It's I-S-A-B-E-L-L-E-H-E-L-M-I-C-H.
All right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Isabel, are you a neighbor?
Please proceed.
My name is Isabel, and I am a neighbor at 1551 North Franklin.
The first thing that kind of stood out to me was the seeking the exception for the parking spot.
My top concern was definitely the fact that people do park on the sidewalk or on the, yes, on the sidewalk in front of their garage.
on the sidewalk or on the yes on the sidewalk in front of their garage this is an accessibility
issue for me personally I wish that people did not do this but they do um when there is a garage
constructed in this way um I understand that the ownership of those four adjacent vacant lots so
there's a third property in this discussion but I'm not necessarily talking about that one I'm
talking about the 1547 and 1543 so there's an alternating ownership of the city um
nataniel and then it's the city again and then it's property owners again and so with one of
those being owned by the redevelopment authority one by the philadelphia housing authority i am
I have curiosities about how this could potentially impact the city and their ability to build affordable housing because we really don't have any concept of whether or not this construction will be a place that our neighbors can afford to live.
I do have concerns about like just disruption in terms of stability and noise.
I think that 1541, there needs to be a closer look at the stability of the construction of a building attached to 1541.
And my last comment is that I saw that there was not a civic design review on one of the postings.
I couldn't find it right before this, but that is something that I would be curious about, like, what is that?
What would those findings have been?
And so, therefore, what are we missing in terms of just understanding what the overall impact of this property will be?
And generally, just the seeking of exceptions.
I'm not necessarily understanding why new constructions cannot be built into the pre-existing zoning requirements.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. We appreciate your comments. Anyone else?
Yes, Chair. There's a phone number. Ending in 0287, they will be allowed to speak.
Calling user with the last four digits, 0287, you're allowed to speak.
Yes. Good afternoon, everyone.
hi could you state your name please state your name and spell for the stenographer
my name is paul de gazon first name is spelled p-a-u-l last name is spelled d-e
capital g-a-z-o-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes sir well are you a neighbor i am sir please proceed thank you so i reside on the
on the corner house at 1520 and i was actually present for the last um zoning meeting um my
concerns are still the same i pretty much um you know concur with with both of the previous ladies
and what they said my main concern is the parking um you know i had discussed that previously there's
this a shortage of parking around here and because i do live on the corner um i get the overflow or
the excess of parking and for a safety standpoint and from a trash standpoint um it's uh yeah it's
not in my best interest um that's uh oh lastly let me say this i'm sorry uh my last comment sir
yes across the street um yes that field um i know a lot of people individuals bring their dogs over
there uh we you have a lot of neighbors who come over there and plant um and that in that field as
well uh from uh you know from outside perspective so um yes thank you for taking the time we do
appreciate your input is there anyone else there are no more hands planning commission
good afternoon list usually on behalf of the philadelphia planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa 5 residential single family zoning at
this location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2017 in accordance with recommendations found
within the comprehensive plan the proposed dimensional variances are minor and in keeping
with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code there are several front-loaded garages on this
block base but most of the homes do not have this feature the city planning commission recommends
that the board grant the proposed dimensional variances but deny the proposed variance for
parking not accessed from the rear street alley or shared driveway
not accessed from the rear street alley or shared driveway okay number five mi2025-007-573-1547
north franklin street i vote yes with a private uh proviso approved use is single family household
living michael johnson my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso
Trinetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Brian McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Layla Beebe, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Number six, MI2025-007577-1545 North Franklin Street, I vote yes with Proviso.
Approved use is single-family household living.