two-family, there's really only one on this map that's two-family, all the way up to six-family,
five-family. You can see the six-family four doors away, and then the two more recent triplexes
next door that the board granted in the last year or two. Although there are some much more
DENSE DEVELOPMENTS, THIS ONE IS PROPOSED TO BE THE LEAST MINIMUM REQUEST AS IT IS PROPOSED
TO BE ENTIRELY CONSISTENT WITH THOSE TWO MOST RECENT APPROVALS ON THE BLOCK AND THOSE
ADDRESSES ARE 3956 AND 3960. SO THIS PROPOSAL WILL REPRESENT A NATURAL
BLEND OF THE PREDOMINANTLY MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL USES AND IS ENTIRELY CONSISTENT WITH THE HISTORICAL
USE OF THIS PARTICULAR LOT. ASIDE FROM SURROUNDING DENSITIES, THREE
UNITS HERE ARE MOST APPROPRIATE FOR THE INTERIOR LAYOUT AND IS NOT OVERBUILT FROM A DIMENSIONAL
PERSPECTIVE TO ACCOMMODATE THE DENSITY. AS ALWAYS, WE SUBMIT THE PROPOSAL WILL NOT
INCREASE CONGESTION, HARM NEIGHBOR'S PROPERTIES OR IMPARE LIGHT AND AIR.
MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS IS INCLUDED IN THE MEMO OF LAW THAT IS SUBMITTED AT EXHIBIT 13.
And at this point, I would ask the chair to swear in my client.
Will you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?
My name is Ruslan Nikan, R-U-S-L-A-N-N-I-K-A-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Rosalind, have you been present and heard all of the testimony and evidence that I offered in front of the board today?
Do you agree that—
Can you get closer to the microphone so they can be heard?
do you agree that testimony was true and accurate and would you adopt it as if you had given it
yourself yes thank you and happy to take any questions questions from the board
i think the big question is that this is in you know not a corner property so what's going to be
the plan for trash sure so all of the units themselves do have the interior trash storage
area and because it is designed to have that internal alleyway so you can see here there is
there is uh the rear yard does have that alley that goes directly out to the street
so that that will provide uh perfectly sufficient access to store a can in the rear yard
uh and then rustling manages his properties himself so uh he can you know make sure that
the tenants actually are bringing the trash back uh to the extent that they would need to do that
And then with that, are you going to have lights on that side alley?
Lights, of course, yes.
yeah and are they going to be flood lights are they going to like
And are they going to be floodlights?
Are they going to, like...
uh we haven't we haven't decided yet but most likely it's going to be motion sensor lights
and is it going to be locked or secured with like a gate uh the gate to the rear yard but
the alley is going to be open okay all the questions probably want more than just motion
on that side the only i have one comment i think that the layout works i think you kind of hit the
issues that i generally um have um when these um units are designed um is if this picture
actually exemplifies it i know it's the pico but if you can work with them in some way to
get those meters off the front of that unit would be would be great which your alley should allow
because pico's whole thing is they just need access yeah i i was honestly surprised to see
Davis, I think, is that something that you are willing to work with them to see if they'd allow it on the side?
Yeah, we have to confirm with a coat, electrical coat, I'm not sure.
It's not a coat thing, it's just Pico.
Because the way that this is now, if somebody had to exit that basement, they'd hit their head on the meters.
Yeah, I will tell you, I was surprised when I saw that picture as well, that it was not on the side, since there is an alley.
location of the city infrastructure whether it's in the sidewalk in front of your property or it's
running down the alley in the rear that is the only thing but but definitely an aesthetic thing
that just makes that makes not a bad looking building ugly yeah for sure understood all right
questions from our attorney uh no questions at this time mr chairman questions or comments from
the virtual audience i do not see any hands mr chair why would the
planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning at this location
from the current rsa 5 residential single family this property has its historical uses for family
and all the dwelling structures on this side of the street are multi-family with similar density
the planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested variants for three dwelling
units and how long we want to hold for the we're going to hold it right now for one week so till
well, October 7th.
The 7th?
At 9.30.
We'll see you then.
We're just voting.
We're just voting.
But I will actually see you then, so.
Thank you.
And we'll let you know how it goes with it.
Thank you.
Yeah, you'll let us know if there's any issues.
Appreciate it.
Number 21, MI 2026-002878, 317-19 Dickinson Street.
Justin Crick is the attorney.
Mr. Chair, I shall be coming back in shortly as a panelist.
Thank you.
Understood.
Good morning, members of the board.
Good morning, counsel. Could you please state and spell your name for the
stenographer?
Yes, my name is Justin, J-U-S-T-I-N, Crick, K-R-I-K.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
could you identify your client a relationship to the property yes my client is 317 dickinson llc
represented here by its member jordan katz and they are the owner of the property and i see
non-application is from penn sport civic and also the council member our vice chair has a few
questions good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this
hearing yes and do you weigh the reading that your refusals and stipulate to their accuracy
yes i do all right thank you you can see your screen and proceed with your case thank you very
much all right um members of the board i am uh assume you can see the outline that is on on the
page we do and we have we have all your documents thank you very much um so this is an application
for the property at 317-19 dickinson street and what we're doing with this property it's currently
located in an RSA 5 zone, but it has, since its construction and for the knowable history,
the property has been used in a commercial manner. So, what we are seeking here today is for
technically, I guess, the legalization of the business and professional offices and for the
use in the existing structure. Again, the refusals that we received.
Just out of curiosity, how did you get here?
I'm sorry? How did you get here? Did Ellen and I tell you to do this or tell me what?
Yes. So the client, they were told while they were just took ownership of the building and
trying to square away all of their proper licenses and registrations and were informed
that the zoning wasn't allocated properly or designated properly for this. All right. Thank
Allocated properly or designated properly for this. All right. Thank you very much. Yep. And so the refusals we received are very straightforward and boilerplate because this is commercial in an RSA 5. It was just a blanket refusal for the uses and the fact that this building has multiple spaces in it.
you very much. Yep.
The idea of multiple uses in the district were also refused. So we are talking about the property in the center of the screen here bookended by residential properties.
But as you can see, the nature of how it was constructed from, you know, historically, and that we're talking back as far back as 1984, and I'll show you the old prior permit there.
But the building is constructed in a manner that invites commercial use to it.
Not too far down, there is another residential garage, or at least garage in use.
It's also still designated residential, but just to let you see that there is another garage on the frontage and then the other way down Dickinson Street.
The property is situated somewhat central to the block or at least off of the corner, not on the corner.
And you can see from this picture and the following picture, and I have a zoomed in.
I'm sorry, these are the zoomed in.
that it's an extremely large building that is, you know, extra wide, and the building itself
was constructed at full depth of the property. And then what's notable here is that everything
around is RSA 5. We do recognize, and the neighborhood took note, that there are CMX 1
on the corners to promote some commercial activity. But again, this property has always been
and existing as a commercial structure just some some additional photographs and i'm going to take
you inside pictures of the zoning posting are here so the first floor is all open space you
can see that from these pictures right here that the garage door in the front the roll down is
there this is an open space that we believe would be prime for a tenant who would do something such
as building services or store materials in the site not for a retail sense but for that sort of
storage use associated with building services these are some photographs of the second floor
office space and just before that i'll show you that it looks like this it is broken down into
a common area with half baths and four office spaces at the moment there are they are all
technically occupied two of the offices are occupied by an accounting firm that has been
there for 15 years there is a theater company that operates one of the rooms strictly for their
administrative purposes and one of the and the last unit was recently rented by a contractor
for administrative office space and there is a possibility a good possibility that that contractor
would store supplies etc in the downstairs if this variance is granted back to some of the
photographs we want to let you know so here are the office spaces as they've been established for
quite some time. This was one of the vacant spaces, but again, we have a tenant now.
These are the half baths and other restrooms in the building. Here's a copy of the deed,
at least actually the whole deed, just showing that they recently purchased it in November of
last year, Dickinson LLC. And then I wanted to show you historically, this was a variance that
was granted back in 1984-85 that indicated that the property was a one-story garage
and it was previously used as a gas station and body repair shop. We are not looking to do any
of those services in the premises, just strictly office professional office use and building
services. It was brought up at the meeting, and I'll just point it out here, that we don't
anticipate medical of any sort because second floor use would not be appropriate for that
without the necessary means to get upstairs. So this is really truly business and professional
office and for building services. Tax balances have been cleared, and we did meet with and
had a non-opposition from the Civic Association. And with that, truthfully, I will keep it simple
and ask the board for any comments. We just believe that based on the characteristics and
the historic use of the building, it would be a hardship to re-characterize or re-situate this
property for residential single-family use at this time. Could you bring your client on,
please, and have your testimony adopted? Yes. Mr. Katz, if you are in the audience,
can you kindly raise your hand i'll be coming back in as a panel thank you
JORDAN KATZ. Hi there. Can you hear me?
hi there can you hear
JORDAN KATZ. Can, sir. Could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?
JORDAN KATZ. Sure. My name is Jordan Katz, J-O-R-D-A-N-K-A-T-Z.
JORDAN KATZ. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
JORDAN KATZ. Yes.
JORDAN KATZ. Counsel.
Thank you. Mr. Katz, are you a member of 317 Dickinson, LLC?
And are you authorized to speak on behalf of the company?
Have you heard the testimony that I've provided to the board today in relation to this application?
Was the information given true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
And do you adopt my testimony today as if it was your own?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney?
not at this time mr chairman questions your comments from the virtual audience
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in zoning to the current rsa 5 residential single
family the property has an apparent configuration in history as commercial property the planning
commission recommends that the board grant the requested variances for business and professional
office building services and multiple principal uses when we don't have to use it but no because
it looks like it's the whole property so mi 2026 zero zero two eight seven eight three seventeen
to nineteen dickison street i vote yes michael johns my vote is yes cheryl gaston my vote is
yes tennetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes i win my vote is yes layla baby
my vote is yes thank you very much thank you thank you anyone in the audience who uh their 9 30 a.m
case has not been called i do not see any hands thank you everybody see everybody at two o'clock
thank you very much for this morning thanks oh you feel any better no i like the way you say
at least i'm not
lakisha let me know how many
okay thank you good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman i will be chairing this meeting of
the zoning board of adjustment with me is our vice chair tinnitus graham president mr chairman
our board uh secretary charl l gaston present mr chairman remember michael johns president mr
chairman hiya win president mr chairman brian mcadams president mr chairman layla beebe president
mr chairman also here is our attorney lynn reuter uber our executive director in haggerty and our
board administrator lakeisha dandy this hearing is being recorded and will be posted on the zba
website by participating you agree to be recorded this is an in-person meeting with remote
participation whether in person or remote if you're called to speak please state and spell
your name then wait to be sworn in after you've been sworn in each time before you start your
testimony state your name to enter an appearance indicate the property address on the zoom webinar
speak with a staff member
Call the ZBA office by the close of business tomorrow.
Please call 215-686-2429 and provide your name, email, and the address of the property in question.
To a remote participation, raise your virtual hand when directed so we can call you to speak.
Before you testify, please click the join as a panelist button.
Use the question and answer for procedural questions only.
Do not ask questions about individual cases.