Also, here is our board attorney, Hillary Emerson, and the ZVA hearing supervisor, Lakeisha Dandy.
Before we begin, here's our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting Tanya Sunkett at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email address and the address of the property in question.
And lastly, the question-answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
If you have any comments at all, direct them to our Executive Director, Tanya Sumkin.
Let's look at continuities for this afternoon.
Number six, MI-2022-003-690-5856 Belmar Avenue. That case is continued.
And case number seven, MI-2022-003-674-44-48 Mannheim Street. That case is continued.
you. Is there anyone in the audience has comments relative to those two cases?
I see no hands, Chair. Are there any other requests for continuance?
I see no hands chair. Thank you. And I have a withdrawal. Number four, MI 2022-003-684-2130
I see no hands, Chair.
North 20A Street. That case has been withdrawn. Are there any other withdrawals?
i see no hands chair thank you we're going to go to our add-on list number one mi2022
001 057 3251 fox street i vote yes thomas holliman my vote is yes
yes. James Snell, my vote is yes. Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes. Thank you. Number two,
MI 2022-001-709-1746 Lombard Street.
The board has received the revised plans that we requested last week from the applicant. The board
has also received a request from the Planning Commission to reopen the record in order to
supplement their testimony from the October 26 hearing, as well as to submit a document for the
record. In response to this request, the Board has decided to hold a resumptive hearing on the matter
on Wednesday, November 9th at 2 p.m. for the limited purpose of allowing the Planning Commission
to supplement their testimony and submit a document for their record. Counsel for the applicant will
be permitted to respond to the Planning Commission's supplementary testimony. No other testimony or
documents will be accepted. Thank you. Number one of our regular list, MI 2022-003-720-1535-37
North American Street. Alan Nokomson is the attorney. Letter of support from the South
Kensington Community Partners, and also the applicant has provided a petition of support
signed by 10 neighbors along with four form letters of support from neighbors. Mr. Nockamson.
Mr. Nockamson, if you're in the virtual audience, can you please raise your hand?
tara i don't see his hand up i see someone else's hand up but i don't know
it looks like a corporate corporation walnut 48 llc um let's see who they are
wellness 48 llc please unmute yourself and wait for the chair uh yes uh mr chair this is okay
yeah we see this way okay thank you um mr novison state your name and spell for the court reporter
please.
And he's coming in now as a panelist here.
OK, fine.
Good afternoon, Mr.
Chair, members of the board, Alan
Knockamson of Knockamson, PC 123 South Broad Street,
Suite 1600, Philadelphia PA 19109.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Kelly, you have his spelling, right?
Yes, Chair.
Thank you.
Mr. Nackamson, could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is the Coffin Factory LLC, and in the virtual audience should be Michael Fritchett, the member of that limited liability company.
Mr. Holloman has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, Counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required, such as proof of ownership, tax clearance, copy of the refusal, pictures of drawings of the property?
Five days in advance to this hearing, did you meet with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, in all respects.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
all right so i'm here to present 1535-37 north american streams uh we were actually here uh
last year um regarding this same property and we'll explain why we're back
So in my presentation materials, you'll see our notice or refusal, our letter of support from the South Kensington Community Partners, the coordinating RCO, where I showed you then the support of the people who attended that meeting in favor of our project.
so in my presentation materials you'll see our notice or refusal our letter of support
Petition of nearby neighbors, also a letter of support from those nearby neighbors.
uh again we had a project earlier uh last year uh where we were looking to put an artisan space on
the ground floor residential units above but because of the shift in the economy in the real
estate market it's been difficult for my client to get financing for that project uh so the artisan
space in the ground floor is space my client was planning used for himself he cannot afford to do
the residential units above so he's merely looking to do the artisan space on a one-story
structure and we'll explain why we're receiving refusal for that uh but this board previously
approved you know artisan space in the ground floor on three residential units above and we're
only asking to do the one artisan space now well you'll see maps of the area photographs of the
property and the surrounding area our plans and drawings um our rco meeting notice including proof
book mailing of that notice or application for appeal that we filed to the zba our deed to
property showing that the coffin factory llc uh is the uh owner of this property and again in the
virtual audience is michael perchat uh who is the member of that llc and at the conclusion
of my presentation i would ask that he virtually raise his hand uh it could be sworn in and then
he can adopt my testimony as though it was his own uh and our certificate of tax clearance showing
that my client is in good standing with the city of Philadelphia with respect to this property.
First things first, it's a notice of refusal. This is an IRMX property, and we're looking to erect
an attached structure for use as an artisan industrial studio. And we have one refusal,
whereas a maximum occupied area of 75% is required for the proponent structure.
We don't have 100% law coverage, but we have close to it.
But there is good reason why.
And again, we're not affecting anyone's light in here.
It's a very unique property of how it sits in the neighborhood.
A lot of support from the South Kensington Community Partners.
Again, there was a well-attended meeting.
We had seven individuals show up to that meeting virtually in addition to the executive boards.
And all seven of those individuals voted in support of this project.
and then you know again we made a concerted effort uh to meet with nearby neighbors mr
forshad has lived in his neighborhood for some time so he's a known quantity he actually owns
the property to the left of us as well uh so you know he's known in the neighborhood well thought
of he reached out to nearby neighbors who would be most directly impacted by this property
in this project and they got he got a petition signed by them as well as corresponding letters
to support and then again this is not the first time we presented this project or a
variation this project to to the zoning board of adjustment last year uh we saw a little bit more
comprehensive project again due to market forces he's unable to add those three residential units
above instead he just wants to do one story uh artisan space for his purposes only so it's
be under occupied um but as you can see you know we did have a notice refusal uh that was under
uh calendar number m uh zp-2020-008386 which this board did approve on march 17th of 2021
uh but you can see the community was also in support of that project
We are short of what's behind us on Phillips Street, but, you know, I get, I understand that we're basically taking almost full law coverage with regards to our property, but because the unique character of this property as in comparison to 1539, we essentially do have a rear yard.
It's just 1539. So 1535-37 has this open area here. So that open area is for the benefit of the property to the right of us, which is 110 unit apartment building, and to the property behind us on Phillips Street as well.
Again, very unique, this L-shaped building or property.
And because of how the building structure does not go full lock coverage, they have open
You know, for all intents and purposes, that's our open area.
And, you know, again, within the spirit of the building, we have that open area.
And then here's just our floor plan.
Again, simple 20-foot high structure where we can build a lot higher than that.
But because of market forces, we can't afford to do that.
But you can get in through a front door.
There's also a rolling gate here.
And it's just an open floor plan for Mr. Frechette to do his business, his artisan studio, for his artisan studio.
And then our meeting notice, again, it was July 27th of this year at 6.30 p.m., well-attended meeting, unanimous support.
99 properties were notified of that community meeting.
Here are the properties that were notified, proof of mailing to those properties,
our application for appeal that we filed to the zba along with the notice of refusal and the
project information form our deeds of property showing the coffin factory llc is the owner of
the property along with the certificate of tax plan showing their their income standing uh with
that being said i would ask that mr for shadow virtually raise his hand he can adopt my testimony
and then we'd be more than happy to take any questions from the board
hi could you state your name and spell it please for the court reporter
hi i'm michael frechette f-r-e-c-h-e-t-t-e you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes i do proceed counsel uh yes mr frechette you heard everything i had
to say today correct is it true and correct yes and do you adopt that as your own testimony
absolutely thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission good afternoon members of the board david vecto
f-e-c-t-e-a-u with the city planning commission do you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth yes sir i do thank you thank you sir mr chairman members of
the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the industrial and residential mixed
use zoning at this location the proposed use of the property conforms with the intent of the
zoning code the applicant is proposing 11 less open space than the zoning code requires but that open
space exceeds that of adjacent residential and mixed use development so the city planning
Commission recommends the board grant the dimensional variance. Thank you. MI 2022-003-720-1535
to 37 North American Street. I vote yes. Thomas Holliman. My vote is yes. James Snell. My vote is
yes. If not, my vote is yes. Thank you, counsel. Thank you. Go Phils.
So, the next case will be number 2 and 13 will be heard together.
Number 2 is MI-2022-003-681-2032 West Tioga Street, and number 13 is MI-2022-003-682-2030 West Tioga Street.
Brandon Savron is the attorney.
Letter of support from Allegheny West Civic Association.
And we will work on some tax issues at a later date.
We will hear the case, but not vote today.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Could you identify your client?
Your relationship to the property?
My client is Diane Siegel Family, LLC, and Danny Siegel is here on their behalf to adopt my testimony and answer any questions you might have.
They are the contract purchaser of both properties.
Mr. Howman has a few questions.
Mr. Howman has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, county.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required, such as proof of ownership, tax clearance, copy of the refusal, pictures of drawings of the property, five days in advance to this hearing?
And did you meet with the ROC, and do you have a letter?
yes to all of those questions except with regard to tax clearance we are working on that with the
title owner of the properties thank you please proceed and share your screen
okay give me one moment and I will do that
okay good afternoon members of the board and thank you for your time today
In front of you on your screen right now is the refusal issued by L&I for 2030 West Tioga Street.
And now on your screen is a refusal for 2032 West Tioga Street.
My client is under contract to purchase both of these lots with a zoning contingency in the contract.
So closing will take place soon in the future.
And the refusal is the same for both properties because the proposed development of both properties is the same, except flipped horizontally.
So what you'll see is that we are proposing on vacant lots to erect a set of twins.
These are semi-detached structures, brand new.
Each would have three dwelling units.
And the refusals we obtained because we are in the RSA 3 district are for multifamily use in both properties, as well as lack of parking.
RSA-3 would require one space per property, but we did not figure out a way to provide parking without violating other zoning rules, such as prohibition against front street loading.
And what we are doing is we're providing the required side yards for both of these homes.
We felt that providing parking would interfere with that as well.
So just to orient you, I have an aerial map and a parcel map in my exhibit packet, but here is the same information on atlas.gov.
So you'll see in front of you what the space looks like. It's vacant.
And here, I'm going to just show you, it's rather interesting.
If you see where my cursor is, this is 2032 as of five years ago. Here is 2030.
The image on your screen is from 2017.
If I move forward to 2018, you'll see that there was some sort of catastrophic incident, maybe a fire or explosion that damaged both of these properties that's now visible before you.
And then if you fast forward to the most recent aerial imagery, you can see that they've been demolished and the debris has been hauled away.
So what we're looking at today are two vacant lots.
Let me just dive into for a moment while I have this on the screen here, the hardships present in this case, and then I can show you the plans.
This is both our large lots measuring approximately 3,675 square feet.
They are the largest and deepest lots on their block, other than a couple lots that are through to the next block.
But if you kind of compare the lots to their neighbors, you'll see they're sort of the largest on the block face there.
We are replacing with a total of six units, if you grant the variances, we're requesting what used to be 11 units across these two properties.
One property, I believe, had three units. The other had eight before whatever incident occurred five years ago.
I also put together this spreadsheet that shows all this is the totality of all other parcels on the block, this 2000 West block of Tioga Street.
And what you'll see here, the addresses are in the left hand side of the column.
The number of permitted units, according to the most recent use permit on file in the zoning archive, is on the right-hand column.