than the pilot houses.
Now, grant you, you know,
our facade is going to appear higher
from the street level.
But when you step back
and you look at what's next door,
we're not really that much out of context.
And again, that's subject to interpretation, obviously.
uh remaining documents are the pro forma documents that you we typically see project
information indicating uh this document tax center no taxes are due sony map again you know we are in
rm1 district uh i think it's difficult to put a single family home on this lot never mind a
a duplex so i i don't i don't want to say it was an impossibility of performance but it really is
not a lot where you could put a multifamily.
Deed indicating ownership to the limited partnership.
Zoning notice out to
99 individuals.
And that's the presentation. So I have the client,
the clients that are occupying the property right now, as I say,
they're custom millwork. John Roderick is a
the general partner of the limited partnership
that owns the property.
He's worked in this building for a number of years
and he can give you a better description
of the interior than I can
if there's any questions about that steel beam
and why is the height so much?
We have 14 feet on the first floor
so we're already starting at a high level
and to get ample bedrooms in the property
necessitated us doing what we did
and to share this presentation with you.
So, Mr. Roderick, can you unmute yourself and jump on this call?
So Mr. Roderick, can you unmute yourself and jump on this call?
Hi, President here.
Hi, Mr. Roderick.
How are you, sir?
Could you please state your name as Belfort, a stenographer?
John Roderick, J-O-H-N, Roderick, R-O-D-E-R-I-C-K.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, sir?
Counsel?
Hey, John.
Good evening.
John, you were on the call, the entire call, when I presented your project, correct?
Correct.
And if you had a chance to testify, would you adopt my testimony as your own and as shown correct?
Yes, sir.
John, can you tell the board what you're using and have used this property for over any amount of years you've used it for?
Yeah, for almost 10 years, I've been doing custom woodwork out of there.
It's also been storage for a general contractor as well.
So we've been utilizing the space for just about 10 years now.
John, I mentioned this beam a couple of times.
Can you tell me what this building used to be used for and why there's such a heavy structural aspect to it?
Our best guess was maybe an auto repair shop of some sort.
We had a phase one environmental done, which turned up nothing significant.
but overhead right where the lintel for the overhead garage door is about 12 inches up from
that is the underside of a large I-beam which carries across the span and there's two of those
in the building and they're about 16 inches high so the parapet the very front of the front facade
that parapet wall is actually quite quite short to where the roof is
um so for us to start our um first floor uh it's it's actually not much lower than the extent of
the front facade you see there is there are there any comments or explanations you want to make with
regards to the renderings or do you think it was explained adequately i think you did a great job
I MEAN IT'S A VERY INTERESTING LOT SORT OF FULL OF DESIGN CHALLENGES I THINK YOU DID AN ADEQUATE
JOB OF EXPLAINING HOW WE'RE TRYING TO INCORPORATE MAKING A SINGLE FAMILY HOMEWORK HERE THANK YOU JOHN
QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD YES SO CURRENTLY THE STRUCTURE IS THE ENTIRE FOOTPRINT OF THE LOT
correct okay so the door at the rear what is it exiting to right uh that was one of the first
questions i asked when when i came upon this project john i'll go to an aerial photograph
john but you can you can speak to that i mean i understand what is there i actually lived around
the corner from there for 10 years so i know the physicality but like legally you're currently
showing an exit onto a property you don't own. Right. And that was existing. So, John, you've
actually, you know, if you want to go out and get some air, you actually use it. But when the time
comes for construction, you're probably going to have to close that up. Correct. Yeah, that's our
understanding. And we reached out, we tried to reach out. Our understanding is that the row home
with frontage on 15th street uh is the now rightful owner um but it was kind of confusing
for a while when sister mary scullion did the the uh development to the rear like it seemed possibly
that it was deeded to project home at one point so i had reached out prior to her passing um and
then they sort of said like we don't have any record that it's ours so that was the extent of
she's still alive oh she oh i'm so sorry yeah i was talking to her the other night i said oh my
god she came back to be honest it's it's getting late and i hear my kids screaming in the background
but i i'm so sorry i mean may she live long i think she retired is what she did yeah yeah i
think you're right that yes she she retired in a professional sense not in a different type of
that okay i'm sorry i mean i think like my main comment i i think you know i think the like
footprint all the refusals make sense to me for the but this is a it's a lot of height and it's
a very tight and compact space and i'm wondering with those single stairwell what's your what's
the plan if you know to get people off the fourth floor you don't have a lot of space there and then
And I think my second question for you is really about trash storage.
Yeah, I think I think our plan for trash is likely it would be in the garage and it would be wheeled out.
As far as egress, I mean, we haven't put any thought yet into any additional considerations aside from.
We haven't put any thought yet into any additional considerations aside from, you know, co-degress, but it is, there's a lot of verticality there for sure.
There's a lot of verticality and there's a lot of luxury amenities.
There's a lot of like outdoor spaces that don't address sort of trash and laundry.
Is there a laundry unit in here?
Yeah, there's laundry.
um yeah there's laundry in a drop zone for laundry okay right there's washer dryer and
off the hall there okay and this one i would argue you know by having so many open areas
roof decks and porches that you know if there is a situation i mean it certainly would be easy
easier to access for all the inhabitants and and or you know a fire ladder if that ever became
you know situation but i understand your point but just wanted to understand what the plan was
for the people that are going to live here okay thank you the questions no i think overall for a
tight lot i think you came up with a decent enough plan i mean it's a to put anything on that site
is pretty difficult and to sort of make a a single family dwelling uh work and get those outdoor
spaces, I think
is commendable for
this tight space. Although you still
throw that door out to the lot
that's not owned, but
you've got to deal with that
on the ground level. Yes.
Thank you. I think
the height does not look bad when you compare
the duplexes to the height.
It just really blends in nice.
Okay, other questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney, Hillary
Emerson. Not at this time,
Mr. Chair. Is there comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission. Michael Gall with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommended no change to the former CMX2 commercial mixed-use zoning at
this location. In 2018, the parcel was intentionally remapped from CMX2 to RM1,
residential multifamily proposed rear yard depth reflects the existing conditions the appellant
has not demonstrated that there are unique physical circumstances or conditions of the
property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the roof deck setback
requirements of the zoning code the city planning commission therefore recommends that the board
grant the requested variance for rear yard depth but recommend the board deny the requested variance
for roof deck setback okay thank you um mi 2025 002 448 1506 cambridge street i vote yes with
proviso revised plans one page stamp icba on december 10th 2025 michael johns my vote is yes
with proviso cheryl gaston my vote is yes with proviso tenetta graham my vote is yes with proviso
I am McAdams. My vote is yes with Proviso.
I am Wayne. My vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, counsel. That's
four in a row we did with you today.
Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.
All right.
Is there anyone in the
audience whose
330 case has not been called?
I see no handshare.
Thanks, everybody. Great deal of work
and we're done almost an hour
earlier than we were last week, if anybody's
interested. Thank you.
thank you take care good night all good night