uh and started the build and it is not completed yet he hasn't put doors on it he hasn't painted
it he hasn't put landscaping on it it'll look better as as he finishes it up i think mr mathis
wants to address the board if the board would be so kind um okay thank you uh first this garage is
60 feet from the street, the same distance as my house. It's alongside my house. It's not on the
street. And on Chippewa Road itself, there are, and the pictures are there in spite of our trouble
pulling them up, of structures alongside houses and larger than mine and on the property line.
i mean there's multiple examples that we're just in line with most of the other garages in the
neighborhood okay thank you planning commission
sorry are you all right on good afternoon i'm sorry david that's all right i apologize um so
good afternoon members of the board david effecto city planning commission um so the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the residential single-family zoning at this location
uh the proposed legal this is a proposed legalization of a structure that was built
without benefit of permit the applicant has not demonstrated the hardship exists for the new
structure nor have they established the structure is needed to enable them to derive value from the
property the city planning commission recommends the board deny the proposed use and dimensional
variances we also note that a driveway might require the applicant to return to the board
for a variance depending on how steep the slope is on the property uh the front of the property
Thank you. MI-2022-001-989.
Mr. Chair, this is Harry. If you are inclined to grant this, my suggestion for the proviso
member Holloman asks for would be to limit the use of the structure to storage only.
Thank you.
MI-2022-001-989-8417 Chippewa Road, I vote yes with proviso for storage only.
For storage only.
Thomas Solomon, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Solomon, my vote is yes with
James Snell, yes with proviso.
Yes, Snell Shaheed, yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much.
Apologies about my document navigation.
Uh, MI 2020, number eight, MI 2022, 003-672-916 West Fisher Avenue. Cheryl Gaston is the attorney. Um, recommendation of support from the Logan Civic Association.
Chair, Ms. Gaston is coming back in as a panelist now.
Hi, Ms. Gaston, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
uh yes uh i'm cheryl gaston uh i'm with the spruce law group at 1622 spruce street
counsel could you uh uh say your name again and spell it for the court reporter please i'm sorry
Cheryl. C-H-E-R-Y-L. My last name is Gaston. G as in George. A-S as in Sam. T-O-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm the total truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Okay. Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
My client is Markins Coriolan. It's C-O-R-I-A-L-A-N. And he's on here somewhere.
OK. And I would also ask if you could have my paralegal be promoted so that she can help me with the share screen.
We will do that. We will do that. But in the meantime, Mr. Holloman has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree? Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required, such as proof of ownership, tax clearance, copy of the refusal, pictures or drawings of the property five days in advance to this hearing? Did you meet with the RCO? Do you have a letter? Yes.
thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you again could we have uh it's christine
schlasser she is not paralegal she's on okay thank you
do we see the paralegal
yes she's there she has her hand raised all right good miss slasser
miss slasser can you unmute yourself and wait for the chair yes i am unmuted okay so so council
what we're going to do is we don't have to swear her she'll just she'll go through the slides and
you'll you'll do the testimony off the slides all right no problem so why don't we why don't we put
up the slides Christine I just need to be able to share my screen please okay
sure could we let her share and promote it now chair to a panelist thank you thank you you're
welcome. Thank you. Good afternoon, members of the board. This is a request for a visitor
accommodation permit to allow use of 916 West Fisher Avenue as a short-term rental or Airbnb
or however we're terming it, the applicant has been.
the applicant has been renting the property for short-term rentals in this structure for a while,
and a variance is now required because of the proposed new ordinance that was signed into law
that says that if you now want to do this, he has to have a visitor accommodation zoning permit,
which is basically a permit for a hotel or motel. So this is a picture of the exterior of the
property. We have as part of the packet the deed for the property. We have the zoning application.
The notice of refusal which was for visitor accommodation because this is
and RSA 5 area. And we have the application for appeal, the
project information form, and we can just go through. Thank you. And then the tax clearance
And then we have pictures of the unit. So this is the posting of the property. And then you'll see that we have unit one, which is this is the first floor.
there's a kitchen, a little kitchenette. There is a living area or living room. It has,
which is very nicely decorated and what have you. Keep going. This is all part of the living room.
And then there is a kitchen dining sort of nook area in it.
There is a, of course, bathroom for the first floor here.
Shower area. This is the bedroom.
and again there's a workspace and then for the second floor unit there is again a living room
again the kitchen
um little kitchen little nook bathroom and uh bedroom um the uh
the uh we have the notification letter of uh approval from the uh which is the meeting summary
reform for the RCO meeting that we had, the RCO was a little surprised to know that there
was even anything like this in their area because they have not had any complaints or
concerns from anybody about this particular use. And again, we have the letter that we
out to the RCOs, the address, and the stamped certificates of mailing.
Okay, so basically for purposes of this, the property is a renovated modern
a two-unit building with one bedroom and bathroom per unit with a living room, dining room,
small kitchen. The applicant, my client, began renting the units short term through Airbnb in
November of 2021. The new legislation that was
the new legislation that was passed in June 27, and it was signed by the mayor on June 27, 2021.
I'm not sure if it's actually become effective yet. I think the effective date has been pushed back,
but we started this process during a time when there was still talk of it being made effective
back in April of this year. So the support for granted, the variants are as follows.
The applicant host is an individual. That is something that is required under the ordinance.
The rentals are for stays of 30 days or less. The rentals are booked, confirmed, and paid through
the Airbnb portal. The primary guests are from all over the country. He's had guests from Florida,
Virginia, New York, New Jersey, and it includes those who are visiting Philadelphia for the first
time to those who have moved from Philadelphia but come back to visit family or perhaps to
stay with a relative who is in the hospital or being treated in neighboring hospitals.
The applicant has earned the high ratings from guests as a super host, which is an experienced, highly rated host who are committed to providing great stays for their guests.
The applicant respects the new neighbors and surrounding communities.
There are no parties or excessive noise allowed.
This is a mandate from Airbnb and the applicant host.
The applicant host provides trash collection bins for guests, and he actually puts out the trash that's generated by the guest rentals on trash day, as opposed to giving them the trash receptacles and then asking them to do it.
and he is in accord with the community character
and livability, which is respected.
The property is very well maintained,
and as you can see, the units are very nicely appointed.
And the applicant host has received only compliments
from neighbors concerning guests, i.e. no noise or disturbances,
as opposed to when he was renting the property for longer terms,
where there were complaints about some of his tenants.
The Airbnb collects the hotel tax up front and pays the city directly.
The applicant has a commercial activity license and a rental license
and pays all property and business taxes for this property.
And as you can see, there are no signs and there's no retrofit of this property to resemble a hotel.
And frankly, the applicant is, this is not the applicant's idea.
He's only doing this because this is what the city is requiring in terms of having this, what is in effect a commercial thing, that this property is commercial in nature when it has always been a residential property.
Community benefits, granting the applicant hosts a visitor accommodation variance will augment the lodging choices of those choosing to visit this city.
Visitors can stay in and sample the ambience of our city of neighborhoods rather than being limited to staying in Center City.
Short-term rentals provide flexible options for those who may be here for medical treatment,
family visits, or emergencies, special events, or as tourists to the city of brotherly love.
Short-term rentals are also a way for women, people of color, and seniors to generate or
supplement their income. They are akin to bed and breakfasts or vacation rentals at the shore,
lodging options that allow property owners to keep properties occupied while defraying
expenses for their upkeep and maintenance, a win-win for host guests in the city of Philadelphia.
And I would just say that, you know, I went to school overseas for a year. When you traveled
around, you have hostels, you have bed and breakfast, you have pensions, you have all
kinds of other options for lodgings rather than just hotels. Council, why don't we do this? Why
don't we have your client adopt your testimony okay let's bring your counsel your client on
could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
Yes. My name is Mark Coriolan. I'll spell my full name, M-A-R-K-E-N-S. I go by Mark. Coriolan is my last name, C-O-R-I-O-L-A-N.
yes my name is mark hariolan
Mark is
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Okay. Mark, have you heard what I've said?
Yes. And do you agree that the testimony that I have given is accurate?
Yes, I do. And do you adopt that testimony as your own?
Yes, I do. Okay. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
here i see no hands at this time by planning commission thank you mr chairman good afternoon
david effecto city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the residential single family zoning at this location this appears to be a duplex dating to
at least the late 1940s the applicant has failed to show that visitor accommodation is required to
continue deriving value from the property and so the city planning commission recommends the board
deny the use variants for visitor accommodation. Okay, thank you. So MI 2022-003-672-916 West
Fisher Avenue. I vote yes with proviso. Temporary variants to expire 12-1-24.
Thomas Solomon, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, yes with proviso.
thank you counsel
number nine MI 2022 003 721 614 Wises Mill Road Alan Nockamson is the attorney
letter of non-opposition from Curtis Jones office letter of non-opposition
from Upper Roxburgh Civic Association.
Mr. Nocklinson, you've already been sworn to state your name for the record.
He's coming back in now as a panelist, Chair.
Thank you.
Mr. Chair, members of the board, Alan Nocklinson, A-L-A-N, last name Nocklinson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N,
We received this refusal because we are building on a prior non-conforming dimensional aspect of the property.
That would be a second floor addition. That is sort of where you're seeing my mouse.
This addition was built because there was an existing pergola on the second floor.
And over time, in Mr. Aboot's time living there, he's experienced significant water damage when there's inclement weather.
and this was the best process moving forward to him give him more indoor space for his family and
also eliminate those issues he was having with rainwater again it's a very straightforward
project we have support unanimous support from the community group and the council member's office
as well as letters of support from the neighbors on both sides of the property
so here's my table of contents first is the notice of refusal then a letter of non-opposition
from Upper Roxborough Civic Association,
as well as a letter of non-opposition
from Council Member Curtis Jones Jr.'s office.
Then letters of support from the nearby neighbors
on the left and, sorry, to the rear
and to the right of the property.
A zoning map and a Google map perspective
of the property, some photographs
from a street level of the property
and to the left and to the right,
and then also some aerial photos.
The RCO meeting notice showing that we provide notice
of the community to the community of this meeting in an adequate fashion application for appeal
the deed to the property showing Mr. Abood is the owner of the property and then the
certificate of tax clearance so here's the notice of refusal issued May 20th so you can see here
the application was for a second floor addition the refusal we received has to do with the rear
yard requirement rsd3 which is 25 feet so again we are just uh building on top of a prior
non-conforming use there the building footprint isn't changing at all so the 10 foot rear yard
that is at present has been there um since the building was built here are letters of
non-opposition first from upper roxborough civic association a unanimous non-opposition as you can
see on your screen here and then non-opposition from council member curtis jones jr's office as
well exhibit three is letters of support from the nearby neighbors 7703 mathias street is the
property directly behind mr aboot's property at 614 wises mill road and 7 7700 lawnton street
is the property to the right uh miss kaufman whose name you can see on this letter of support
lived at the property at the time the zoning permit application was filed she no longer lives
there a new family has moved in Mr. Aboot hasn't had an opportunity to meet with them and speak
about the variance but they were notified of the RCO meeting here's a zoning map showing we are in
the RSD3 zoning classification sort of a suburban type use sorry a suburban type zoning classification
and then a Google map showing this showing similarly we're in a spacious neighborhood
some photographs so what you can see at the top of your screen is the before
you can see the pergola on the top right corner Mr. Aboot again not a developer didn't understand
the you know the permitting process as soon as he became aware of the permits he needed to
legally build this structure he stopped construction it's actually just framed on the
outside of the inside is still very bare and just mostly just framing and insulation that's when he
retained our firm hasn't done any work since then and you know here we are in this variance process
here's the side of the property from mathias street and then here are the zoning notice
posters so you can see on the left this is the wisest mill road perspective and because we're