The recording.
Okay, Chair, we're at 67 attendees, you can proceed as you wish.
Thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's EPA hearing.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holloman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is our attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our executive director, Tanya Sunket.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised the proceedings are being recorded.
Video will be available by contacting tanyasunket 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 and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And then finally, the question and answer box on the screen is now for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at our schedule this morning.
Number six, MI 2023 -004 -531 -9877 Marie Road. That case has been continued.
And number 14, MI 2023 -004 -403 -817 North 41st Street. That case has been continued.
Are there any comments relative to the two cases that are continued, or any questions relative to those two, or any additional continuances?
Good morning, Chair. This is Doreen Blakely, and I will be your co -host today.
Good morning.
Good morning, and I see no hands.
Okay. And we have a few cases that we do not have exhibits. Number four, MI 2021 -003 -791 -1534 North 17th Street. Marquesa Carter is the owner applicant. This is the seven listing. We have no updated exhibits. Marquesa Carter.
Ms. Carter, if you're in the audience, can you please raise your virtual hand?
There are no hands, Chair.
So, number four, MI 2021 -003 -791 -1534 North 17th Street, the seventh listing, I vote to dismiss.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is to dismiss.
James Snell my vote is to dismiss
Is to dismiss
Ishmael Shaheed my vote is to dismiss
Thank you
Number 5 MI2023004384
1196 Adams Avenue
Augustina Marino is the listed applicant
No exhibits first listing
Mr. Chair
I would just note, 4150 Kensington Avenue, LLC is the listed owner.
We're not sure who the applicant is in relation to the owner.
Thank you.
There are no hands on that one, Chair.
MI 2023 -004 -384 -1196 Adams Avenue.
That case is continued.
Mark must be heard.
Number eight.
M -I -2023 -004 -486 -7201 Marston Street, no exhibits, first listing.
Letitia Scott, owner's applicant.
Letitia Scott has a hand raised, and I will allow her to speak.
Good morning.
Could you state your name and spell for the court's sonographer?
Good morning, my name is Letitia Scott, L -A -T -I -S -H -A, last name S -C -O -T -T
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Yes, I do
This is the first listing, but do not have your exhibits
This is the first listing.
We do not have your exhibits.
Yes, I was actually signed in today to request a continuance.
I also sent an email.
I was getting help, and I honestly got lost in a bunch of the process.
All right, thank you.
So MI 2023 -004 -486 -72 on Marston Street.
That case is continued.
Mark must be heard.
Thank you for calling in.
Thank you.
And number 12, MI 2022 -005 -501 -2316 Memphis Street.
Brian and Rachel McAllister, the owners, no exhibits, third listing.
There are no, oh, sorry.
I have a Robert Everett with his hand raised here.
okay let's see who he is okay he's been allowed to speak hi sir could you state your name and
spell please for the court stenographer yes good morning everyone first name is robert
last name is everett e -v -e -r -e double t
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth to hold truth and nothing but the truth
i do um could you tell me your relationship to this property
I am a member of the Fishtown Neighbors Association Zoning Committee.
Okay, so, but you're not the owner?
No, I am not.
Okay, well, let me see if the owner is here first, sir, and then we'll do what we have to do with this case, okay?
Excuse me, Mr. Chair.
I'm sorry, excuse me, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Everett, have you met with the applicants?
Are you the coordinating RCO for 2316 Memphis Street?
We are the coordinating RCO.
They have never screened with us after several attempts.
I believe this is the third time back.
I think I said that.
I announced that.
All right.
Thank you.
Is Brian or Rachel McAllister in the audience?
There are no hands raised here.
Thank you.
MI 2022 -005 -501 -2316 Memphis Street.
this is the third listing I vote to dismiss
Thomas Holloman
my vote is to dismiss
James Snell
my vote is to dismiss
Ishmael Shahid
my vote is to dismiss
thank you
and number 10
MI 2023
004 -526
246 Watkins Street
this case has been withdrawn
number 15
MI 2023 -004 -487 -523 Pine Street. Daniel Ward is the attorney. Is he in the audience?
I don't see Daniel Ward's hand, but there is a Robert Kramer with a hand raised.
I will allow him to speak.
Please.
Mr. Kramer, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Robert Kramer, K -R -A -M -E -R.
I'm here.
Do you swear, wait a minute, do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
What's your relationship to 523 Pine?
I'm an attorney and a member of the Society Hill Civic Association RCO, and I've been designated by the RCO to speak.
There was an agreement between us and the council for the petitioner or the PLA to withdraw this for today to further work on the negotiation.
Okay, thank you.
Is Mr. Ward in the audience?
Mr. Ward, have you in the audience raised your virtual hand, please?
there are no hands chair okay thank you so mi2023 004 487 523 pine street that case is continued
mark must be heard we're going to go to our add -on list
three cases together mi2023 001
Mr. Chair, those first three were, you don't have to, we didn't previously announce the voting that we were going to vote.
Thank you.
Right to number four.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Number four, MI 2023 -003 -645.
Number four, MI 2023 -003 -645 -3029 Ridge Avenue.
Mr. Ishmael Shahid has recused himself for this.
I vote no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
James Snell, my vote is no.
Thank you.
And number five, MI 2023 -002 -897 -2001 East Lee High Avenue, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Smell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
We're going to go to our regular list.
We're going to start with number 11.
MI -2023, 004 -444 -4433 Fleming Street.
Robert and Amanda Klein are the owner applicants pro se.
Letter of support from the Central Roxburgh Civic Association.
Robert and Amanda Klein has been promoted to panelists.
Good morning. Who's going to testify?
Unmute yourself.
You're muted.
Sorry about that. Good morning.
Are you going to testify?
I am. Good morning.
Good morning.
Hi. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
Robert Klein, R -O -B -E -R -T -K -L -E -I -N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
This application is for visitor accommodation for two units in an existing two -unit dwelling.
The proposed use visitor accommodation is prohibited in the RSA 5 zoning district.
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning, sir.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have, sir.
Thank you very much.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Okay, so let me share my screen.
There could be a green button there, right?
Yeah, I'm doing it right now.
All right, you're coming up.
Okay, you're there.
Yes. So, I mean, we're here today for the SICA variants, the change to use to allow visitor accommodation.
These right here, we have a picture to show that we are compliant with having the zoning poster posted on our property.
And then we also the next picture is just a closer look.
This is the refusal that we had to post.
this is a close -up of the zone in there would be one second
can you can everyone see my screen okay yeah we're good we're here but we're following it okay
and then
and then we have there's another picture of outside what is that one of the things we had a
show was our deed. This is
an exhibit of our deed.
And if I don't need the
display, just stop me right here. I'm just
going through what I was told.
Why don't you show us
some photos of the property?
So this is one of the bedrooms in the
unit? Okay.
Now my understanding,
this is an existing...
This was zoned back in 1973 for two units.
Am I correct?
Correct.
And you've operated this as two units since then?
Yes, correct.
All right.
Proceed.
Show us all your photos of the inside.
That's it.
This is the kitchen.
We're looking outside to the porch.
This is a better look at the kitchen from the outside area looking in.
this is uh the living room this is the front porch
and then and then from there i have uh i don't know if you need to review this the project
information form we had that okay and you also went to the rco yes we had our meeting in october
from my understanding. We're the first
group in Manioc to go through this.
Right. So it took a while
Right. So it took a while to get their their letter.
to get their letter. I don't
I don't think they were 100 percent sure what direction they wanted to do.
think they were...
Because I think once they there's a letter of support they have.
Yeah. So we got their letter of support.
And some of the biggest issues that people have against short term rentals or also known as Airbnb is trash.
We address that. We have someone, one of the neighbors we pay.
they manage our trash to make sure it's going out every week on time and then the trash cans
are brought back up the other big thing is parking we pay for off -site parking off one
of the neighbors that has a big building on the lot and he rents out parking spots to to people
that live on the block or his personal tenants so we've rent two spots for that for both our units
that way we're not our guests are not taking any extra parking off the street for for any of the
nearby neighbors um the other thing is parties um we we don't allow any kind of parties in our
in our units um we give all the neighbors our phone numbers um in the event that there is any
issues they would call us and we would address it and if you know if if we couldn't get it under
control we'd get the police involved um to date we've never had one of the neighbors have to call
We've never had the cops called to our building for any kind of disturbance.
And then we're seeking this.
It's a financial hardship for us.
We bought the building in September 2018 with the intentions of when we bought it, the first unit was vacant.
The second floor had a tenant in there, and we bought it with the intention of turning the first floor into an Airbnb.
So we spent a lot of time and money to get this ready for Airbnb as far as, you know, painting and updating some stuff and the kitchen, the bathroom, all the furniture and stuff like that.
And then when we finished that and launched that and we were live for a little while, we saw that it was working.
So at the same time, our tenant that was upstairs dropped a bombshell on us that they were moving out.
So at this point, she gave us her notice. She bought a home of her own. And then we turned her unit into a short -term rental. But we had to go through the same thing. And it probably took a year of us. I worked full -time as well at a W -2 job. So this is all like nights and weekends, putting our time and energy into this.
But the numbers just don't pan out if we strictly do long -term rental for this.
So, I mean, our hardship really is financially, you know, we were able, when we bought the building, able to do what we wanted to do.
And now, you know, fast forward it, you know, four years later, you know, we're not able to.
And it's such a drastic change to be allowed to do it and then all of a sudden not be allowed to do it.
Thank you, Mr. Klein. I think we understand your situation.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No, Haines, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning, David Defecto, F -E -C -T -E -A -U, with the City Planning Commission.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mr. Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single -family zoning at this location. There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from continuing to be used as a legally non -conforming two -unit dwelling. The City Planning Commission recommends that the board deny the proposed use variance for visitor accommodations.
Thank you. MI 2023 -004 -444 -4433 Fleming Street. I vote yes with proviso. Temporary variance expires 1 -31 -26.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, Mr. Fleming.
Number 13, MI2023 -004 -497 -2201 Tulip Street.
Louis Castro is the owner.
There's a letter of opposition from the Fishtown neighbors.
there's a letter of opposition from council member school
mr castro
Mr. Castro.
Louis Castro has been promoted to panelists.
Morning, Mr. Castro.
Mr. Castro, can you please unmute yourself?
My name is Luis E. Castro.
Thank you.
Could you spell your name, please, for the court stenographer?
L -U -I -S, capital E is the middle name.
The last name is C -A -S -T -R -O, Castro.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you turn to your video one?
Thank you, Mr. Castro.
This application for the addition of a service parking space for a compact vehicle at the rear of an existing structure,
Whereas the service parking spaces are prohibited and required front side and rear yards and the RSA five zoning district accessory parking shall be prohibited unless it can be accessed from a shared driveway alley or rear street on which no on street parking is permitted on the side rear street directly abutting lot.
Our vice chair has a few questions, Mr. Castro.
Good morning, Mr. Castro. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
Thank you. May proceed and show your screen.
Is that okay if I can invite my architect also to join us, Beth Johnson?
You have to testify.
you can have somebody work the screen for you but you need to testify yourself sir
okay explain it okay okay uh my name is louis c castro and i live on 2201 street since 2005
excuse me um mr castro i'm sorry to interrupt i see your architect has um raised her hand so
why don't we just bring if she's going to be showing the documents why don't we bring her in
as a panelist so she can share
her screen along with
while you give your testimony so we can see
what you're talking about.
Okay, thank you.
Elizabeth Johnson has been promoted.
Ms. Johnson?
Thank you.
I said fine. Thank you.
Mr Castro could you see that yes I am okay please proceed okay um um basically I'm requesting the
bearings to um to um to be able to have a parking space in the in the rear of my house
um there's a there's a small value that I have since I go to the house and I have never
have any use of any kind since I've been here. And I came to the conclusion that the best use
for me to get use of that space is having a parking space, which is big enough for a compact
car. The size of the ladder I have is 11 feet and 6 inches by 16 feet and 4 inches and a compact
car spot requires 8 feet by 16 feet. Since it's a corner house, the space at the rear of the house
is not uh not private and i haven't been able to enjoy it at all since i've been here um
it and it's not it's not really uh something that i have been able to use for anything
besides probably uh if i can be able to park my car in there um um having a parking space will
would make it easy for me to continue to live here.
I moved in here from Collinswood in 2005
and I really enjoy living in Fishtown.
I think it's a great town
and I wanted to be able to stay here for a very long time.
um for a very long time um i also uh uh uh had an incident with my with my car a couple of months
ago i parked my car like two blocks away from here and when i went in the morning the car was
completely burned and that kind of like uh kind of like scared me a little bit so i that's the
reason i'm trying to uh to see if i can be able to park the car close you know right by my house
mr castro what happened when you went to the fishtown neighbors association the rco i'm sorry
can you answer that again did you go to the rco for and make a presentation yes the fishtown
neighbors yes and and tell me what happened there uh i explained uh the story that i yeah that i um
that i i i had that space um since i bought the house the space has been the same i never
did anything uh it's always been the same i explained to them that since i work
in the restaurant business and i go home really late at night uh i never find any parking space
and since I'm getting older I'm 67 years old and I'm on my feet very much all day and when I get
home I'm really tired so it's it's very difficult for me to walk to park my car four or five blocks
away and also in the winter it's kind of difficult for me to to walk basically when the weather is
really bad it snows and everything like that so um i explained to them that i that i that i
i'm trying to seek if i can get a permit because i want to do everything by the book i want to do
anything i want to follow the law and everything and i just wanted to see if i be able to get a
permit so i can park my car thank you um and you were the council member sent a letter of opposition
to yes okay questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no answer planning commission thank you chairman and good morning david vector with
the City Planning Commission. Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the residential single -family zoning at this location. There is no unique physical
condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance
with the zoning code. The City cannot guarantee that a compact car will be parked in the proposed
space. It would be available for any sized vehicle. Any full -size vehicle parked in the rear of this
property will extend over the sidewalk and block the sidewalks use by pedestrians the city planning
commission recommends the board deny the proposed off -street parking variances thank you mi 2023
004 -497 -221 -2201 tulip street i vote no thomas holliman my vote is no
James Snell, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no.
Thank you, sir.
We're going to go to our regular list and start at number one.
MI 2023 -004 -393 -11 Queen Street.
Stephanie Boggs Magna is the attorney for the owner.
There's a letter of support from the Queen Village Neighbors Association
and a letter of non -opposition from Council Member Squilla.
The applicant also provided a form letter of non -opposition
from the adjacent neighbor at 9 Queen Street.
In addition, this was approved by the Historical Commission.
Good morning, Council.
Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court's sonography?
Yes, Stephanie Magania, M -A -G -A -G -N -A.
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, the relationship to this property?
Sure. My client is Raymond Evers. He's the owner of the property.
Okay. Our vice chair has just a few questions for you.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you. You may proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Okay, but you can see that. So the property at 11 Queen Street is located immediately to the east of the I -95 overpass about a block.
to the east of the I -95 overpass, about a block and a half from Christopher Columbus Boulevard.
The property was built in about 1780, and it was designated historic in the 1960s as an individual
designation. It's about 1 ,200 square feet as it currently stands, and it's been used as a rental
for the last couple years by the owner. But Ray Evers, who is the owner of the property,
is looking to renovate the property, which hasn't been done in several decades, and to move in and
make this his single -family primary residence. The addition that he's proposing is kind of in
conjunction with the renovation is to remove a portion of the rear and to add an addition
that will be three stories in the rear of the property. Here's an image of the site plan showing
existing conditions in the rear as well as conditions that are proposed in the back.
these are some 3D renderings of what the project will look like when it's completed that we're
prepared in connection with our historic review. As Chairman, you mentioned this project and the
design was presented to the Historical Commission and was approved there prior to us submitting for
zoning approval. We also met with Clean Village Neighbors Association and they have given us
their letter of support. And importantly, we have also presented the project to the immediate rear
next -door neighbor to this project, Ms. Kathleen Harold, who has also offered her letter of support
as well. The property is in the RSA 5 zoning district, and we are seeking two variances from
the dimensional requirements of this district in connection with a proposed addition. One is a side
yard variance on the side yard that is facing the overpass, the right -of -way for I -95, and the other
is a rear yard depth variance of about two and a half feet. In connection with this project,
we did make certain changes to the plans that are design aesthetic changes only, but these are the
site plans that are being proposed, and these are our proviso plans. Specifically, what was changed
in our conversations, not only with Queen Village, but more specifically with our next door neighbor
and reviewing the plans, was the facade material. So originally, we were proposing stucco on the
exterior of the addition and at the request of the community and specifically our next door
neighbor, that facade material will be brick. So we have submitted proviso plans to document
the new materials that will be proposed with the addition, which of course will be presented back
to the historic commission and are consistent with their original approval. So we are asking
for variance relief for the side yard and the rear yard conditions. They are modest in nature
and intended to make what is a 1760s -era home fit for modern occupation.
They have been specifically designed to be the least minimum variance that's needed
to kind of make this a viable single -family home.
And in conversations with our neighbors and with the community,
we don't feel this will have any detrimental impact on our adjacent properties.
And also, especially with the brick that's being proposed,
it's compatible with the character of the existing neighborhood.
So with that, I'll ask my client, Ray Evers, to raise his hand.
and identify himself, and we can answer any questions. Ray, can you raise your hand if you
haven't done so already? Mr. Evers? Here he is. Mr. Evers has been allowed to speak.
Good morning, Mr. Evers. Could you state your name and spell please for the court stenographer?
can you hear me sir yeah i can could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer
please it's raymond evers uh last name is spelled e -v -e -r -s do you swear or firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do sir please proceed counsel all right did you hear
the statements i made earlier this morning i do and i adopt and agree what you said thank you um
If there's nothing else to add, we'll be happy to answer any questions.
I'll also know we have the project architect here as well if there are any technical questions.
All right.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chairman and members of the board.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the residential single -family zoning at this location. The appellant seeks relief from the
minimum side yard width and rear yard depth provisions in the code. We would argue that
the small size of the lot, 957 square feet, and the shallow depth, approximately 53 feet,
pose an economic detriment to the applicant to the appellant's use of their property the city
pose an economic detriment to the applicant, to the appellant's use of their property.
planning commission recommends that the board grant their requested dimensional variances
for side yard width and rear yard depth thank you mi 2023 004 393 11 queen street i vote yes
with proviso revised plans three pages stamped by zba january 31st 2024.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes
with proviso
James Snell, my vote is yes
with proviso
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso
Thank you, counsel
Thank you
Number two, MI 2023
916 League Street
Vern Anastasio is the attorney
There's no RCO letter
that we have at this point
but the meeting was held 1 -9 -24.
There's a letter of non -opposition
from Council Member Squilla
and the ZBA received three forum emails
of support from neighbors on League Street.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
I just want to note in Council Member Squilla's letter,
he states that the RCO did not reach an agreement
on the request as the neighbors were in non -opposition
and the RCO committee was opposed.
Okay, thank you.
Vern Anastasio has been promoted.
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Please state your name and spell for the court stenographer.
Yes, sir.
It's Vern Anastasio, 2016 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, 19147.
I'm representing Carrie Marie, the owner of the subject property.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Thank you.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to wait or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thanks.
All right, Mr. Chair, members of the board, we're here for 916 League Street. Fairly straightforward appeal here.
There is the proposal for an erection of a fourth floor above an existing flat.
My client has owned this property for quite some time.
There have been some considerable problems with water damage.
Upon looking at it, it turned out to be a project that would take a lot of construction.
As a result, my client thought it would make the property certainly more livable because it's on a postage stamp size lot if they were able to extend the rear and with the addition of the fourth floor.
As you'll see here, it's not unusual.
The height is not unusual because let me pull in here for you in a minute.
we've got several properties on their side of league street this is little league street okay
on the north side the properties are relatively modest in size as far as height is concerned
however on the south side the homes are far more taller you'll see this four over one property
that stretches from the middle of the block all the way to the corner.
And as you can see here, you've got adjacent properties that go well in excess of the 38 feet
with roof decks and different additions.
And here's a pilot house that goes beyond that as well.
So on this side of the street, the heights of the homes sort of reflect the heights of the properties
that face Washington Avenue because you're getting closer to the commercial section,
southern end of Bella Vista. Additionally, the property that my clients abut from the rear
has zero windows, so this doesn't impact them at all. Let me show you what we have as far as
This is the size of the lot. As you can see, it is extremely small. And the idea is to put in a rear home office and then the sunroom at the top.
Here's an elevation. These architect plans were done by Toner and Associates. Mr. Toner's here
if there are any questions with regard to design. But as you can see, the sight line will have zero
But as you can see, the sight line will have zero impact on the sight line of pedestrians on Leak Street.
impact on the sight line.
And the front end cornices will, of course, align with the adjacent properties.
And there are some additional items.
Here are some photos.
right now as you can see there's a staircase that i certainly couldn't go up and down on
but uh i'm sure some folks can and uh uh that would just be covered that stair would just
become internal let me uh here is the
Here's the letter to the RCO and to all adjacent neighbors.
Here's the addresses that were all mailed or noticed.
The meeting itself was very well attended.
As the RCO letter indicates, 100 % of the neighbors in attendance supported this appeal.
In fact, and even a good majority of the RCO committee, I think one or two members may have had a bad day.
And as a result, they sent over a letter saying that there was no consensus, but no RCO meeting is ever 100 percent consensus.
But 100 percent of the neighbors who live around there were in support of the appeal.
And that's what drove Council Member Squilla to support a non -opposition position.
In addition, pages 23 to 26 in my exhibit packet show written letters from immediate neighbors with regard to 926 League, 909 League, and finally, the neighbor most impacted.
a 918 league, which is they share a breezeway. There would need to be access to that breezeway
in order to put the rear addition on. And the neighbor at 918 is, again, in full support
per her letter. And additionally, there was an email granting my client full access to the
breezeway in order to get the extension. I believe this neighbor, among all the other neighbors that
came out in support understand that these are very small homes on very small lots.
And if there's a way, especially post -COVID, to have a home office and make the property
more livable, it certainly will preclude folks from leaving the neighborhood and leaving
the city, which, of course, they don't want to do.
As a result, because of the unanimous support of all community members who live within the
immediate area most impacted, both at the RCO meeting and reflected in the emails today.
Because of the unusually small size of the lot in question, and because our proposal
will just be in line with other homes on the southern side of League Street and not adversely
impact anyone's light, air, or otherwise, I respectfully request the granting of this variance.
Brian, could you bring your client on, please?
Of course. Carrie, could you please raise your virtual hand?
Carrie Maria is allowed to speak.
Good morning. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
My name is Mary Maria, M -A -R -Y. Last name is Maria, M -A -R -I -A. Just to note that Carrie is a nickname.
Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Ms. Maria, did you hear my presentation to the board this morning?
I did.
And is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
It is.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you. I have nothing further, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson just a quick question um mr anastasia
did you receive a letter from bella vista neighbors we got the letter from the council
office but we never received anything from from bella vista the only thing i received uh was i
think a vote breakdown from them okay can you forward that to me because we we didn't receive
that thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands here planning commission thank you chair
there are no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and board members good
morning david effecto with the city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the residential single family zoning at this location the proposed variance for maximum
height is minimal and does not conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code the vertical
vertical extension of a non -conforming rear wall is a continuation of existing condition we would
argue that the small size of the lot, 514 square feet, and the shallow depth, approximately 33
feet, pose an economic detriment to the appellants' reuse of their property. The City Planning
Commission recommends that the board grant the requested dimensional variances for maximum height
and vertical extension of a non -conforming rear wall. Thank you. MI 2023 -004 -501 -916 Lake Street,
I vote yes, with proviso.
Revised plans, one page, stamped by ZBA, January 31st, 2024.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number three, MI 2023, 004 -404 -665 -North 11th Street.
Henry Clinton is the attorney.
Letter of support from 14th Community Organization, RCO, based on revised plans.
Mr. Clinton has been promoted.
Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Clinton.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman.
Could you just state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure, Henry Clinton, H -E -N -R -Y, Clinton, C -L -I -N -T -O -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
My client is Mr. Nguyen, capital N, capital G, and he is the sole member of the LLC that owns the property, 665 North 11th Street, LLC.
All right. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, Mr. Chief.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits within five days to proceed with this case?
We have.
Thank you. Please proceed to share your screen.
Mr. Chairman, is that visible?
We can. We're good.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, again, members of the board.
I'm here on behalf of 665 North 11th Street, LLC.
This is my table of contents containing exhibits A1 through A10.
This is a request for a three family dwelling in an RSA 5 zoning district.
And you'll see, as I walk through the presentation,
that there have been a number of changes made to the project in strict conformity with the RCO,
the 14th Ward Democratic Executive Committee. The refusal is a use refusal. This is an RSA 5
zoning district. It used to be RM1. It was rezoned. We have no issues with height, open space,
or rear yard. And the application does seek four, but that has been reduced to three dwelling units
based on meetings with the RCO. Here's the RCO letter of support. There was a meeting on January
4th, overwhelming support for the project. They certainly understand that this is an RSA 5 zoning
district. They also understood that this was a long, vacant lot and that to develop a single
family home would be an economic detriment. And therefore, the proposal for multifamily was well
received, although we did decrease the unit number from four to three. We also removed the top floor,
so now it's a three -story structure, and it is on a block with existing multifamily,
surrounded by the school across the street, some institutional uses, as well as PHA, large
apartment building. You can see the support was 10, and there's one opposition.
and these are photos for the board to give you some context so uh 665 north 11th is a long
vacant lot right here where my cursor is it's one off the corner on the block already is a four
story structure with five units and then right down on the other side of the street is a three
unit apartment building has been there for decades across the street is a spring garden school so
So directly across from the project is an open parking lot.
And then further down the street is 80 -unit apartment building, Philadelphia Housing Authority.
is 80 -unit apartment building, Philadelphia Housing Authority, and then to the rear of the
And then to the rear of the project.
property is 180 -unit bed in a rehabilitation center. So we do have a blend of single family
and we do have multifamily on the block. It should be pointed out that the homes immediately to the
south of my client's lot, these were land bank properties where the developer was able to
purchased the properties for under $400 and then renovated them or actually new construction for
two stories. But I think the community group recognized that, you know, these lots are going
to continue to stay vacant unless a multifamily is built there, because frankly, to build a
single family house is going to cost more than the price of the sale price. You're going to be able
to get the homes again to the immediate south. It's sold for under $300 ,000 according to the OPA
registry. This is a view looking south. Again, just a vacant lot. You can see the large four -story,
five -unit apartment building further south. This is a close -up of that five -unit apartment building,
five apartments, five meters, and one meter for the common space. And then down the other end of
block is a three -story and i have the zoning records at the end of my presentation to show
the board and back up the photographs that in fact these are legal multi -family uses
on the block already this is 673 north 11th street zoning notices posted
these are the plans these are the changes that we made to the original submission reducing
replacing the units from four to three, removing the fourth floor, redoing the elevation of the
building to make sure that matches the windows of the homes to the south. And then there was a
half bath in the basement. These are the plans, Mr. Chairman. To my left, where I'm behind the
cursor, these are existing two -story homes to the immediate south. So my client changed the
elevations to match the industrial -type windows so it would conform to the neighborhood. Again,
we took off the fourth floor. We're in a three -story building, which is lower than the
other apartment building that's on the street. The layout is pretty straightforward. In the
basement, there's a half bath, egress wells front and back. First floor, two bedrooms, bath, kitchen,
trash compactor for the trash, second floor, same situation, two bedrooms, living room,
dining room, bath, trash compactor for the trash. And then the third floor is two bedrooms,
basically three two -bedroom units. The third floor will have access to the rooftop deck.
First floor will have access to the rear yard. The property will be self -managed. Mr. Young is a
local resident. He lives in the area. He will be maintaining the building, making sure the trash
is put out from trash compactors from all the residents. These are the original plans, which I
guess I really don't have to go over in much detail. Basically, the four -unit, four -story
building was pared down, as I've already said. This is the application for appeal, indicating
real estate taxes are paid zoning map you can see that this is one of the larger
lots on the block some of the other lots are much smaller the deed indicating
ownership our notice letter sent to all the surrounding neighbors and these are
the zoning records supporting the aerial photographs that I showed the board this
is 657, again, four -story, five -unit building, five families. And this is down the street. This
is a three -story, three -family. It's been in existence since 1951. So we have a situation,
Mr. Chairman, where we understand, and my client understands, and the neighborhood group
understands, this is an RSA 5 zoning district, but the lot has sat vacant for many moons,
decades, I'm understanding. The neighborhood understands that they want to bring more people
into the neighborhood, get more people on the street, more foot traffic. The property will
conform with the design of the adjacent properties. There's other multifamily on the block.
There's institutional uses, educational uses, and a large apartment building by PHA nearby.
So we believe that this project will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood.
It doesn't impair any light or air or development of any adjacent properties.
It's not detrimental to the public welfare.
Frankly, it's in harmony with the code because it is residential.
It's going to bring more people to the neighborhood, make it an affordable place for individuals to live.
We're not impacting any properties late in the air.
properties late in there and we and we believe that we are in total harmony with what the
And we believe that we are in total harmony with what the code is.
community is looking for uh on this particular lot uh so with that i would ask my client to
unmute himself and adopt my testimony and then entertain any questions the chairman or members
of the board or the planning commission may have okay excuse me mr clinton what is your client's
name again last name is spelled capital n g okay thank you and we also have the architect on hand
mr chairman if there's any questions okay sure thank you there's no one with the hand raised
okay um call his name one more time please all right mr no this is a henry clinton or
maybe the architect can unmute yourself uh for mr young if you're with him
can you please raise your hand
could be Lynn L -I -N
could you raise your hand
okay yes I have two hands raised
one is
Le Wu the second is
Wen Lin
I would do the first one
okay I will allow them to speak
good morning sir
could you please state your name and spell for the
court stenographer
my name is
Lee Wu
all right could you spell your name please for the sonographer
l -e national name w -u right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes are you the owner uh i'm the standard owner
there's a language barrier mr chairman okay um
hillary can we accept the son to adopt the testimony is is the owner there with the son
when he has a hand up is that
mr woo with his father uh no my dad my dad not with me okay but he don't you know he can't speak
English, that's why. I'm going to represent
him. Mr. Wu, have
you spoken to your father about this project?
Do you have his authority to speak on his behalf?
Yes, I did.
And have you heard my testimony today
for the project at
665 North 11th Street?
Yes. And you've discussed this
with your father? Yes, I did.
And if he were here, would he
adopt my testimony as his
own and as true and correct?
or are you comfortable with this that's fine mr chair okay all right thank you
or short questions from the board no mr chairman no sir no chair additional comments from our
attorney hillary emerson um yes um mr clinton i was looking over the the plans and the the changes
the revised plans um we so typically the zoning board we don't stamp floor plans because sometimes
things have to change based on the building code um so we can only stamp the first page of the plans
the the z1 not the z2 um i i know that the community asked for i think it was a half bath
in the basement um but unfortunately we can't we can't stamp um like i said stamp the floor
plans because there may be other building requirements and we don't want you to be
locked into plans that have to have to change um for other things i understand and i agree i did
that for the community group and we've entered into uh the cba with them anyway with that
stipulation in there or we will enter into the they're just reviewing it okay excellent so we'll
just um if the board does approve we'll just do the one page right and i will i will need an
updated proviso form for you just reflecting that that one page at your convenience all right thank
you thank you miss emerson questions or comments from the virtual audience yes chair there's win
lynn with a hand raised and i will allow the person to speak hi could you state your name please
hi mr chairman uh i'm the architect on this um uh design so yeah i think wait one minute hold
on one minute hold on one henry do we need the architect no we do not unless there's any questions
from the board sir thank you for calling and we we're not going to need your testimony
questions or any additional questions from the virtual audience
there are no hands here planning commission thank you chair bergman and good morning david
with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at this location
recommends no change to the residential single family zoning at this location
this parcel was remapped from rm1 residential multifamily to rsa5 residential single family
in 2017 with bill number 170140 in a community supported map change there is no unique physical
condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance
with the zoning code. We are aware of one five -dwelling building and one triplex on this
block face, but the remaining homes are single family. The City Planning Commission recommends
that the board deny the request -use variance for three dwelling units. Can I address that,
Mr. Chairman? You can. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Facto. There was discussion at the community group about
the remapping. I mean, as Mr. Facto just said, the community group was the instrument that changed
the zoning. But they also realized that on this block, there's existing multifamily, again, not
to speak for the community group, but trying to rehash what was said. And these lots have been
vacant. So sometimes we need to look beyond, obviously, what the registered zoning code is
to make the city more livable and bring more people into it. And I'm just kind of
reemphasizing what the community group said. In addition, you know, we have a parking lot across
the street. We have an 80 -unit apartment building down the street. We have 180 -bit institutional use
behind the property. And while I do respect the Planning Commission, I just ask the board to look
at the desires and the wishes of the community group, even though they were the instrument
behind which the zoning change took place.
Thank you, Mr. Clinton.
MI 2023, 004 -404 -665 North 11th Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Revised plans, one page, stamped by ZBA
on January 31, 2024.
Maximum three dwelling units.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my proviso.
Thank you, Mr. Clinton.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Have a great day.
Thank you.
Number seven, MI 2023, 004 -325, 2000 South Street.
Alan Nocklinson is the attorney.
There's also an attorney, David Ammer -Connor, who represents a adjacent neighbor.
Ellen Nakabason has been promoted.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
I just want to note we did receive a letter in addition to the RCO letter.
We received a letter from NOAC, North of Washington Avenue Coalition.
They offered conditional support for the project, but they wanted more information about whether there would be affordable housing, how the work would be done collaboratively with the community and any local hiring, job training, apprenticeship opportunities.
I think these were things that they had questions of based off of the project information form.
It's also a letter of support from South of South Neighbors Association.
And then there's a letter of opposition from Tater Street.
Mr. Nockermson, let me swear you first, please, sir.
Could you state your name and spell for the court's sonographer?
Alan Nockermson, A -L -A -N, last name Nockermson, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Is David Amarconer here?
Yes, Chair. He has his hand raised.
I will allow him to speak now or promote him?
Yeah, please let him speak.
He's been allowed to speak.
Good morning, sir.
Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court sonographer?
Yes, good morning.
Good morning. My name is David, D -A -V -I -D. I'm Eric Conner, A -M -E -R -I -K -A -N -E -R.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair Bergen.
Could you put your video on, please?
Let me see if I can.
I just promoted him, Chair. He should be able to now.
Okay, thank you. I appreciate it.
You're welcome.
good morning sir good morning chairman okay so i'm going to have mr knox to present his case
Good morning, sir. Good morning, Jeremy. Okay.
and then we'll get to you after that okay okay um mr knoxen um a few questions from our vice chair
please good morning council have you emailed excuse me do you agree to weigh the reading
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits, five fees and events of this hearing?
Yes, we have.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
So I'm here to present 2000 South Street. This is a property at the corner of 20th and South.
South and our property abuts properties on Cater Street.
During our presentation, we're going to review first a notice of refusal.
Then we did receive a letter of support from the coordinating RCO, South of South Neighborhood Association, better known as ASNA.
And we have other letters that we received both from community members as well as other RCOs.
Then we'll review the revised plans that we proposed so that if this board feels so inclined to grant our pending zoning appeal, they would do it by way of proviso.
We'll review maps of the area, photographs of the property and the surrounding area.
Our plans and drawings, which have been prepared by Nome architects and in the virtual audience is Gabriel Deck, one of the architects for Nome, who can answer any technical questions the board may have.
after that our rco meeting notice so we had two meetings with the community
the second meeting they took a vote and again in support of this project our application for
appeal that we filed on behalf of lh south llc the owner of the property and again in the virtual
audience is leonard hill its member and at the conclusion of my presentation i would ask that
Mr. Hill, virtually raise his hand. I'll have a few questions for him. And, you know, if he feels
so inclined to answer anything that the board may ask of him specifically, I would ask that he do
so. We have our deed to the property showing that LH South LLC is the owner of the property and our
certificate of tax clearance showing that LH South LLC is in good standing with respect to real
estate taxes. So our notice refusal is this. This is a CMX2 property. It's a rather large lot of
1 ,740 square feet. And what we're looking to do is demolish an existing building structure that's
completely shot. It's a three -story structure, commercial on the ground floor, residential
above. And what we're going to do is mimic almost the, well, what we proposed initially is to mimic
the building structure that's there by way of adding a new building structure,
creating a commercial space, which would be facing essentially the corner, well, not essentially,
but be facing the corner of 20th and South with an OB on South Street to help support that
commercial order, and to have residential units above, where the actual one to the side of us
on 20th Street were to be one residential unit, and then four above on the second and third
floors. So initially, we had a project where we had four refusals. We have eliminated two
and diminished another one. So the first refusal is, this is a CMX2 property, which allows for
multifamily use. Because of our lot size, we'll only allow three when we're asking for five.
We're proposing to have five one -bedroom apartments. So that's the focus, is the amount of
bedrooms. In actuality, if we had three units, we could have nine bedrooms. But we didn't think
it was appropriate. There's a need in the community for more diversity of housing to have
four residential units have more one -bedroom units, and that's where that need we're trying
to meet. In addition, as the board knows, we're close to the three to go from three to four,
but because of how the Philadelphia Zoning Code works, they always round down, not up.
So that's why we're short of the five -unit requirement. Originally, we were asking for
45 feet high. It was going to be a more interesting design in that the fourth floor would have had a
mezzanine level that was set back in all areas. The community did not appreciate that, including
the adjacent property owner behind us on Cater Street where, you know, she was concerned about
like her view of the city. So as a combination, we reduced
her view of the city. So as a combination, we reduced the height by 38 feet to a maximum of
38 feet. And we'll go over her letter that we received yesterday, where we've made additional
accommodations. And I have a statement that I was asked to read by her and her attorney,
who's present in the audience as well. The third refusal has to do with the maximum occupier area.
Because we're a corner property, we're allowed to have a maximum occupied area of 80%.
We're asking for 92 .8%.
Again, because of accommodations we made with Mr. Emma Kanner's client yesterday, we've
reduced this variance by increasing the size of the rear yard setback to nine feet.
So in actuality, we're getting closer in conformance to the Philadelphia zoning code. And again, we are mimicking for all intents and purposes, the building footprint that's there in a lot of respects. Our rear yard setback on our current building structure is six feet.
That's why we had that last refusal of six feet. But because of Mr. Amick Hanner's client's concerns about the building structure to accommodate her, yesterday, we increased the rear yard setback to nine feet for all levels.
So if this board feels so inclined, I have a lot of provisos. And we discussed the mechanics of that with Ms. Emerson last night, just to make sure that we understand exactly how we should propose this project to the board. And if the board feels so inclined, we have provisos that are set out.
So, we've worked diligently not only with the community, but with nearby neighbors to make this a responsible project for the community. So, we do have a letter of support from SOSNA. And in there, they state that we work with them and the community in terms of modifying this project.
So it's a responsible project for the community and will be a valued asset to the community as well.
So, again, one of the things I want to make sure the board understands what you're seeing in terms of the revised plans is what the community saw with some minor modifications that we reviewed with Mr.
at McCanner beforehand, because I want to point out if there was any deviations from our drawings.
And because of those of our presentation from the community and our modifications, the community
supports this project as a whole, at least according to RCO. And we'd have additional
provisos in addition to the revised plans. And they are as follows. Trash stored in the residential
units, trash stored in the commercial unit, and the final one is commercial trash pickup.
So again, if this board feels so inclined to grant this project, it would be for revised plans,
which we're providing you today, trash stored in the residential unit, trash stored in the
commercial unit, commercial trash pickup. And then I have a few more provisos that, again,
And we negotiated with Mr. Amit Kanner's client last night.
And I just want to make sure that those additional improvisos are there.
And I'll discuss that a little later in my presentation after showing her a letter.
And then, you know, we also received a letter from North of Washington Coalition.
They gave conditional support.
Their concerns were as follows.
They were concerned about the affordability of this project, of the units as a whole.
That's not zoning related.
Again, what we're trying to do is meet the need within the community of having one -bedroom apartments here.
You know, having additional apartments, you know, conversely, would hopefully make them more affordable.
But, you know, we are not meeting the affordable housing guidelines of, you know, for PHFA.
but, you know, we are not disinclined to provide affordable units under PHA. And so my client has
thought of doing that. He has not made a decision whether or not he is going to do it, but he's not
going to prohibit that, you know, type of thought process during the construction phase of this
project. The second concern of North of Washington Coalition was, you know, they wanted us to work
collaboratively with the community we always work my clients always work collaboratively with the
community and we welcome the opportunity to you know sit down with the members of north of washington
and we welcome the opportunity to you know sit down with the members of north of washington
coalition and see how that can happen mr hill the member of of the of the property the corporate
property owner lives in the neighborhood so he's you know he's he's not like an outsider to this
community and finally their third concern was about local hiring uh in for this project you
know, Mr. Hill will hire anyone who's doing licensed, insured, and experienced. And, you know,
again, he would welcome the opportunity to know of contractors and professionals who can help
him along in this neighborhood with this endeavor to build his five -unit mixed -use building.
And then this is the letter that we received yesterday from Mr. Emmett Canter's client,
where she stated her, in spite of the community support,
she stated her opposition to the project generally.
And we did diligently work with her and her attorney.
And I was asked to read a statement
which shows how we have progressed this project
even more at her request.
We understand that the board received a letter of opposition
to the project variances on Monday of this week.
Signed by a number of neighbors of the property,
the applicant has worked in good faith
with members of the community
to respond to their concerns
and is today asking that two new provisos
be added to the proposed project
to respond to some of those concerns,
particularly concerns over the bulk
of the proposed building.
And these are the two provisos.
In your revised plans,
you will see that we propose to have
a height of 36 feet, eight inches to the roof line. Now we're asking for maximum 38 feet.
That was one of the concessions because what we're doing is our revised plans had a rear yard
setback of six feet on the first floor. And it was 10 feet rear yard setback on the second and
third force. Based on the compromise, we are agreeing to have a rear yard setback on all
levels of nine feet. So it would be rear yard setback of nine feet on all levels. And I'm
going to continue the statement. We believe that the revised plans with provisos is responsive
to at least some of the concerns raised by the neighbors.
and it's not out of character to have like again this rear yard setback issue and coverage issues
behind us on 2001 cater street this board granted similar variances regarding roof decks
or excuse me rear yard decks for this property so these type of things are not out of character
plus our building footprint is actually mimicking for this project what's there.
The only difference is like the side area, and we'll point that out as well.
And then these are our revised plans, the proviso form.
These are the things that are different from the original proposal.
Mezzanine level removed, so instead of 45 feet high, now we're going to be 38 feet.
Now, it does say building height reduced from 45 feet to 36 feet, 8 inches, because that's what the revised plan says. But I spoke to Ms. Emerson. We can agree, if the board agrees to grant this variance, that there could be language of 38 feet maximum height, and we'll deal with updating the revised plans after this hearing.
There will be a trash enclosure which is going to be removed in the rear yard because originally we were going to store trash in the rear yard.
And again, by way of proviso, we're agreeing to store garbage in the residential units and store garbage in the commercial unit itself.
And then proposed building entrance stairs reconfigured at 20th Street at the right of way.
Again, at the request of the community, we reoriented the staircase in the front.
While we're on the side, and then to, and I don't know if this is, you know, this is what we're going to do and it's on our site plan. I don't know how enforceable this is, but we have to propose street trees now included subject to street and parks and rec approval.
And then, finally, the 2 pilot houses have been altered because of this change in the mezzanine level as well.
And then this is all reflected on the revised site plan.
And then I just want to highlight this. This is our elevation as part of our zoning plan. You'll see right here, this is a.
get to that. This is our elevation of the new building. What Nomar Architecture did was
really helpful for me to understand and hopefully the ZBA to understand. There's these dots here
which shows what the elevation of the current building structure is. And as you can see here,
we really just mimicked what's currently there. So whatever issues with light and air,
are similar to what is for this proposed project
or similar to what currently exists for this property.
We did not try to impact anyone's light in there differently.
All right.
This is our zoning map of the area.
This is a CMX2 property.
Again, we're at the corner of 20th and South Street to cater one block south of us.
This is a commercial corridor.
The neighborhood appreciated the fact that we're going to have a prominent commercial unit here to add value to this commercial corridor.
And then this is our Google Maps perspective as well, which shows that this is a commercial corridor there.
And then photographs of the property.
this is the side of the property as you can see here there is an indentation on 20th street
we're filling out this indentation that's the really essentially the only difference
from the original proposal less than mezzanine level so we're filling in this in here
so again that's the only difference
And then this is South Street to the right of the property
South Street to the left of the property
South 20th Street to the right of the property
South 20th Street to the left of the property
And then these are our orange nose posters
Photographs showing that we have properly posted the property
On both sides of the street, both streets
and then these are our architectural plans and drawings our presentation that gnome architecture
put together and then you can see here of how we wanted to you know meet the the massing of
what's nearby so you can see that again we're trying to mimic the roof lines uh and we squared
off the build uh the commercial space the opening would be here it goes it goes back as far as here
And then you'll see from the floor plans, there's two residential entrances, one direct entrance for the first floor unit.
And then the second and third floor units have their separate entrance.
And then this is from the 20th Street side, as you can see.
And these are the two residential entrances.
This is for the first floor unit.
This is for every unit on the second and third floor.
And this is from a rear perspective of the building as well, that directory.
And it's just an aerial view. Again, we wanted to show you like this purposefully, my client set back those pilot houses so you couldn't even see them from the street.
And then this is just the type of materials we're going to use. One of the things that the community asked for, the architectural design committee for SOSNA, was a more profiled cornice line, which we did.
We have black standing seam metal for the bay windows.
We have brown -toned Norman brick throughout the exterior of the property otherwise.
And there's lighting, landscaping as well.
And then this is just a different rendering from what you can see South Street.
And then this is part of the presentation a lot that already we covered.
And then these are just the floor plans, pretty basic.
But this is the commercial space here that you enter on South Street.
That commercial space is approximately 1 ,500 square feet.
And then we have residential units, all one bedrooms here.
The first one is on the first floor at the rear of the property.
And then you have each, the second and third floors, each also have two residential units with a common staircase in the middle.
And then, again, we last met with the community on January 17th at 7 p .m., and we emailed
And then again, we last met with the community.
the notification that went to the community on January 3rd to the coordinating RCOs and
all RCOs, and we mailed the notice to 178 addresses.
These are the list of the addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, and our application
for appeal that we filed on behalf of L -8 -South LLC, along with the notice of refusal, project
information form, our deed to property showing LH South LLC is the owner of the property,
and our certificate of tax clearance. The only reason why there's a balance is for 2024 taxes,
which are not due yet. With that being said, I would ask that Mr. Hill virtually raise his hand
and be sworn in.
Mr. Hill, can you raise your hand, please?
Mr. Hill is not raising his hand,
but there is Gabrielle Deck.
Not affiliated.
He is the architect, so maybe Mr. Hill is with Gabe Deck.
Okay. I will allow them to speak.
all right good morning Mr. Hill
hi this is Gabriel Zach I'm actually not with Mr. Hill though
okay so hold on a minute um Mr. Hill
there are no hands raised by Mr. Hill
okay so um mr dockham said we'll accept your testimony um hillary at this time
should we bring the other attorney on yes mr chair
is the other attorney getting me all day good morning sharp you've already been sworn just
state your name for the record again yes my name is david america connor uh spelled d -a -v -i -d
A -M -E -R -I -K -A -N -E -R.
All right, okay.
I'll proceed with your presentation or your comments.
Thank you, Chair.
So Mr. Nockamson offered a long summary of what has happened here.
As for the board's edification, I was retained by one of the near neighbors, Michelle Needham.
She lives at 2001 Cater Street.
she has taken on the role of discussing this project with the neighborhood and has
been one of the people involved in discussions with the neighbors about this project on her
behalf i have been discussing this project and its evolution with mr knockamson and mr hill
and mr deck as mr knockamson mentioned we have expressed concerns about this project
And the project has evolved in some ways to be responsive to our concerns, including up and through discussions that occurred just last night.
We have not had sufficient time to discuss those changes to the project with the neighborhood.
So that needs to occur.
We look forward to comments from other neighbors about this project during this hearing.
and we you know we wish that there had been more time to uh get community buy -in for those
comments for those changes um before this um we still have concerns um but that's where we'll
leave it for now and i do want to hear from other members of the community thank you um
questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
Questions for our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Chair. I just did want to note Mr. Shahid had to step away for a moment. He will be back in a little bit.
Okay. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. Dylan Mahoney has his hand up. Actually, his hands are going up. But Dylan Mahoney is first, and I will allow him to speak.
Good morning.
Good morning.
State your name for the record, please.
Dylan Mahoney.
D -I -L -L -O -N -M -A -H -O -N -E -Y.
L -O -N -M -A -H -O -N -E -Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
You swear?
Please proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Dylan Mahoney here on behalf of Council President Kenyatta Johnson.
Our office has received both the SOSNA letter and a petition from near neighbors in opposition to the case.
In light of that divided feedback, Council President Johnson will not be taking a position on this case. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Mahoney. How many hands do you have up?
I have three hands up now. The next one is Robert Bellinger.
He'll be allowed to speak.
Good afternoon. Can you hear me?
Good morning. Good morning, sir. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Robert Ballinger, R -O -B -E -R -T, last name B -A -L -L -E -N -G -E -R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am.
Please proceed.
I submitted a written letter yesterday, and I'm just appearing today to make sure that that's reflected on the record.
It was emailed to the exact addresses. It was emailed to RCOZBA at phila .gov, as well as PCPC .zoning at phila .gov.
The instructions on the ZBA's website continued to include Ms. Salida's email, so I did not email it to Hillary, Ms. Emerson.
I'd be happy to do that now if it would be...
Hillary, do you have a letter that copied it?
I did not receive that. That should go to boardcouncil at phila .gov.
Thank you.
Mr. Ballinger, do you have any other testimony?
Tony? Well, I think in addition to my written statement, I mean, I think that it is
positive that the developer and the near neighbor have had some constructive conversations to
address some of the concerns. I share the concerns of many of the near neighbors, and I concur with
Mr. Americana's recommendation that we have an opportunity as neighbors to understand the
revised plans that are being presented for many of us for the first
time here today. So for the time being, I stand
by my list to the extent it is responsive to
what I have seen, which is not
what is apparently on the table today. All right. Mr. Bounder, we
appreciate you taking us on the calls. Next hand.
The next one is Kevin Collins.
Good morning, Mr. Collins. Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court sonographer?
Kevin Collins, K -E -V -I -N -C -O -L -L -I -N -S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Please proceed.
I have concerns about the number of units, the five units, compared to the zoned three units.
But I do welcome the help from the developer and from the lawyer and from Mr. Hill in changing some of the elements to make the building smaller.
okay although sasla did give a letter of approval um in actuality 16 neighbors
including 11 near neighbors opposed it as opposed to 12 so the the neighborhood actually voted it
down 16 to 12 and 11 to 5 near neighbors that said um a lot of those in opposition
were prior to some of these changes that you've made.
And I just would like the opportunity to discuss that with our neighbors.
Thank you, Mr. Collins.
Thank you for taking the time.
We appreciate your comments.
Next hand.
The next hand is Christopher Scallone.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Christopher Scallone
Please spell your name, sir
Christopher
C -H -R -I -S -T -O -P -H -E -R
Scallone
S -C -A -L -O -N -E
Wait, do you swear or affirm the total truth, the whole truth, nothing with the truth?
Do you swear or affirm the total truth, the whole truth
Nothing with the truth
Are you a neighbor?
I'm a near neighbor.
Okay, please proceed, sir.
I'm opposed to the number of units, the five residential units versus three.
It is interesting that they're adding some rear yard, which I thought was sorely needed.
I don't I'd like to understand how they're going to how they're proposing that the trash will be handled in that it seems to be an unenforceable issue.
The numbers of units really is the problem with the amount of trash.
Those two are related. And I guess I'd like some more clarity on that.
the the attorney mentioned that early in his testimony that there the number of one bedroom
units was was sorely needed or was and i'd like to know where he gets the data for that
how he under how he assumed or makes the statement that i just like to know where that data comes
from where the where the five small units are a benefit or a need in the neighborhood i i've never
really heard that term since it seems to me that the economics are in the opposite direction um
so i i guess in in general i feel that the the number of units has always been the issue
it's um and the number of units are something that's not going to go away um how trash is
handled in in that number of units and um i think it's it's a problem in the future and
I don't know how you can address it. The zoning code has stipulated the three units in a way that
in recognition of the amount of square feet that that number of units requires. And I think that
the five is far in excess of the three required. And I think that's going to be a problem in the
future. Thank you for taking your time to calls. Is that the, all the hands down? No, Chair, there
are two more hands up. Next is Caitlin Coslett. Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell
for the court stenographer? Hi, Caitlin Coslett, C -A -I -T -L -I -N, last name C -O -S -L -E -T -T. Do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Are you a
Um, please proceed.
Thank you.
I just wanted to echo the comments made by my fellow neighbors, which I agree with.
And just to add, I don't believe the developer has shown any kind of hardship to complying
with the existing zoning regulations.
And I, and for that reason, and all the other reasons and concerns expressed, I don't think
a variance is warranted and I would oppose a variance here.
Thank you, sir.
One more hand, please.
actually there are two more hands the next one is phone number ending in 3439 we'll be allowed to
speak hi could you state your name please as bell for the court stenographer
yes um my name is susan matheson can you hear me i can okay very good could you please
could you please spell your name yep susan s -u -s -a -n last name m -a -t -t -i -s -o -n
right you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes are you a neighbor i am a close neighbor all right are you in favor or against the project or
want more information which which where do you stand with the project um i am concerned it is
good that the developer continues to work with the community okay however the hardships of the
developer was not really
spelled out.
Many of us feel that the project
is still oversized
and that it sets a
precedent for developers to
ignore the zoning codes
in general and
also concerned about the trash.
Thank you very much for taking the time to
calls. We appreciate it.
Do you have one more call?
do we have another hand
sorry that yes i have one more hand anthony beyond casino and then how to speak
good morning sir could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
good morning sir unmute yourself please
unmute yourself please
do we see him yeah i got it
anthony f could you how could you state your name please
spell for the court stenographer anthony middle initial f as in frank
last name bianco sino b as in boy i a n c o s i n o
right do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes
um um are you in favor of the project against the project do you more information where you stand
against the project i'm a very close neighbor hold on hold listen to me one minute could you
please offer anything you have relative that has not been stated already yes well number one i'm
against the five units i eat i own the previous but i mean we know that what i'm saying what else
please let me know what's different the other thing i am against is the soil test has never
been released to the neighbors two soil tests were done on the property it was previously a
cleaners and they had hazardous material they used now the previous the owner the present owner of
the property stated that he never received this soil test to one of the to one of the other uh
neighbors in the property to me he said he had received it but it's in negotiations
with the lawyer i don't understand that okay and the soil test is very important because
you're putting in a basement apartments in this building also
and on the actual block from 1900 all the way down to 2300 2400 south street all the buildings
none of those buildings have pilot houses on it none none not one whatsoever i owned the
previous building on 2200 and south street which is presently now ants pants cafe i sold the
building i was limited to three units in that building three units not five but three right
okay um thank you sir test is very important to have that released all right okay thank you
thank you very much for taking the time to pause um are we done with the hands yes chair okay mr
mr chair can i briefly respond you can mr not okay so in terms of any soil testing um and this
is not zoning related but as i stated excuse me a state and a community meeting if we're lucky
enough to be able to build um here um as part of the construction loan uh approval process the
lender is going to require of us to do a phase one and if potential a phase two testing and
remediation. But that's not something related, but I just wanted to state that that was discussed
at the community meeting and we explained what would happen. In terms of the trash,
it was asked of us from the community to store the trash inside. We were perfectly willing to
store the trash outside. We are doing commercial trash pickup. That's a proviso that we would
agreed to. The community asked us to store the trash inside. We created ventilated trash closets
in each of the five residential units. As far as the commercial unit, there's the lower level,
which is ample space to store the trash. But again, we're using commercial trash pickup.
In terms of the economic viability of this project, we cannot build it with three. Unfortunately,
with rising interest rates, they're going down a little, but they're still very, very high.
cost of construction, it just is not economically feasible to do this.
In terms of, you know, all of the modifications we made to the project at the behest of the
community and nearby neighbors, I think that was acknowledged by a number of people.
It sounds like some people, like, again, this deal was made last night because we only found
out about the letter, like, yesterday, and so we diligently pursued that. If, you know,
the community and wants to review that letter i mean those changes i would ask that the board
hold their vote let the community maybe give some other further input a week from now and and then
the board can vote but we've acted really in good faith here over multiple community meetings inside
and outside all right thank you um council david or do you want to you want to make another comment
And not fact, though, the attorney.
Thank you, board chair.
No, we have nothing else to offer at this time.
So, Hillary, I am going to hold this.
And maybe the two councils can figure a way to have this information reviewed by additional people.
So Planning Commission, do you want to vote on this today or will you want to wait till additional information comes back?
Planning Commission, do you want to vote on this today or will you want to wait to additional information?
Sure, we'll go on record.
Okay, please proceed.
All right. Thank you, sir. And good morning, David Effecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location.
The appellant seeks two additional dwelling units, additional occupied area and a smaller rear yard than the code allows.
Since the appellant is proposing to demolish the existing three -story structure, there is no reason why the appellant could not conform with the code's dimensional requirements.
There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board deny the proposed variances for five dwelling units, occupied area, and rear yard setback.
Thank you.
So, Hillary, what I want to do is hold this.
i think we might need more than a week possibly um let's look at maybe two weeks
um yes i think that would be fine mr chair and the other thing is i mr chair would you would
you prefer maybe a resumption hearing so we can have the attorneys report back and what i thought
about from the community we we could do that we could do that that may be easier why don't we do
a resumptive hearing but but try to limit it that it'll be the two attorneys reporting out
and maybe you know the neighbors on where they where they stand now i mean i don't right after
reviewing the changes right i think i think that would be and i i believe that date would be um
and if staff could affirm i believe that would be february 14th at 9 30 yeah we could do a resumption
um and that would be again limited to the the attorneys just following up with the board
regarding any further discussions with the neighbors and we could take public testimony
only regarding the changes um that were made you know within the last 24 hours
mr knock i'm saying are you okay yes all right uh mr anna karner are you okay yes thank you
All right. OK, so that's where we are. We'll continue this to February 14th, 930.
We'll have this reported out and we'll try to get that voted on that day. OK.
Thank you very much. Thank both of you. All right.
Number nine, MI 2023 -006 -623 -3408 -50B Street.
Rachel Pritzker is the attorney.
There's a letter of non -opposition from HACE, a letter of support from the 7th Ward RCO, and a letter of non -opposition from Council Member Lozada.
The applicant also provided a petition of support signed by approximately 40 neighbors.
Rachel Pritzker has been promoted, Chair.
Good morning, Counsel.
Good morning.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Rachel, R -A -C -H -A -E -L, Pritzker, P -R -I -T -Z -K -E -R.
You swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and the relationship to this property?
The client is 3408 B Street, LLC.
They are under contract for the property, so they are the equitable owner.
Our voice chair has just a few questions for you.
Mr. Holloman, could you handle that, please?
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning.
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 and necessary five days in advance to this hearing?
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
can you see my screen we can okay so this is 3408 b street um as you can see it's an existing
abandoned warehouse um sort of you can see the aerial view as well um some of the roof is open
um and it has been vacant since at least 2017 um it is uh zoned i2 as you can see in the purple but
is primarily surrounded by RM1 properties. The refusal in front of us states that we're proposing
from I -2 to multi -family household living for 50 dwelling units,
16 class 1a interior bike spaces and eight off -street accessory parks
16 class 1a interior bike spaces and eight off -street accessory parking spaces with one
van accessible space the two refusals we generated were for the multi -family household living
in i2 industrial and then for the parking space ratio i'm gonna go through my exhibit packet
quickly
So we have our memo of law essentially laying out our hardship in this instance, as you can see from the photos.
Again, this property is in a primarily residential area. It's been vacant since 20 at least 2017.
We're looking to do an adaptive reuse with the one story addition to bring this back to a viable use for the community and the neighborhood.
I, too, doesn't allow for any multifamily as an industrial district.
However, this is an almost 20 ,000 square foot lot that is sat vacant.
There's really no industrial use given sort of the lack of real sufficient parking, the lack of loading.
Its location directly adjacent to these residential homes and the fact that it has sat vacant has shown that pure industrial use is not appropriate for this property.
the lease modification is the adaptive reuse that we're proposing and you know we're proposing 50
units to withstand sort of the financial viability of the project in addition to the fact that there
was a lot of structural violations that were cleared that have been long -standing on this
property as well we have our architect Ray Rolla should be here to just go through the plans and
as mentioned by the board we have a letter of non -opposition from a say which was the coordinating
rco a letter of support from the seventh uh ward rco which we were asked to meet with as well
and then non -opposition from the councilwoman's office um
you want to bring them yes if we can promote sure yeah if we can promote ray rolla
I'm enrolled is promoted. Good morning sir. Thank you. Good morning, sir.
do we see him right
I don't yes I did promote him I see him in the audience
good morning sir looks like i'm unable to promote him
i'm going to try one more time
hello can you hear me yeah we hear you now sir could you state your name please and spell
for the court stenographer. Raymond
Rola, R -O -L -A.
Do you swear
or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth? I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Ray, are you able to share your screen
and bring up the zoning plans
to go through them with the board?
I just hit share screen under settings.
Can you see anything?
Do you want me to share my screen?
Yeah, counsel, why don't you share your screen?
That would be great.
Can you see that?
This is the site plan.
And this is the site plan that has been, we worked with the streets department,
carefully for landscaping and also the location of the parking spaces. There's basically four
parking spaces to the south side of the property, which is the left side on this screen, and four
parking spaces to the right side. There's also a fence proposed in the rear to provide some privacy
between our property and the residential row houses that would be to the west.
So there's eight parking spaces.
There's landscaping as required by city planning.
by city planning um you can see from the elevation there's an addition it's a it's going to be a
You can see from the elevation there's an addition.
three -story structure the 50 apartment units there's two exit stairs rachel do you have the
plans uh that you can bring up the plan um give me one second the floor plans yeah the floor plan
yeah and also i don't know if you have the renderings
Yeah, these would be the floor plans. The main entrance is off of B Street. Basically, there's an entrance lobby. The building is actually two separate buildings.
There's sort of the south portion and then the northern portion where you see where we have a lobby and an elevator.
And there's a corridor that links two fire stairs on each side, each end of the building.
There's also an enclosed trash room that services a trash holding area on the first floor that services two trash rooms on the upper floors.
And so the trash is stored inside and then brought out through double doors.
There's also a bicycle parking, bicycle storage right next to the trash room.
We have a lobby area that's a good size that can also handle mail.
There's always lots of mail these days and packages.
So there's a total of 50 units.
They're all one bedrooms except for two, which are two -bedroom units.
and they're all uh uh good sized units um so you don't have the renderings do you
rachel no i don't have them it's a shame um i can search for them if the board is interested
in seeing them i i think we have a pretty good idea of what what what you're trying to accomplish
yeah i just also want to mention chairman um just on the parking uh the only way to comply with more
parking spaces would have been to demo part of this building and that would have compromised
some of the structural integrity so that's the reason for the second or the other refusal just
so you're aware. Could you bring on your client? Yes. Do you see a Judah Angster? I think he has
his hand raised. Yes I do and I will allow him to speak. Thank you. Welcome.
hello hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer my name is
judah inkster j -u -d -a -h last name inkster a -n -g -s -t -e -r do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed counsel
judah have you heard my testimony today in front of the board do you believe it to be true and
accurate and do you adopt it as your own yes i have and yes i do thank you uh rachel what was
the votes at the rcos what was the votes besides non -opposition what was specifically the people
vote i'll pull it up
I'm just going to share my screen.
Just want to quickly go over the petition as well, as you mentioned, we did say as part
of their process, ask for the developer and owner to walk through the neighborhood and
get support from directly adjacent near neighbors.
So we provided them with 40 or 41 signatures in our petition as well.
Here is the RCO notice.
And then the letters should be, here's the letters.
Non -opposition, five in support to oppose.
Thank you.
The other one.
And then the other letter, it just says we are in approval of the project.
And you also have the council person, non -opposition.
Correct.
And I believe Sloan, folks, is on from the councilwoman's office.
Okay, good.
Questions or comments from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair.
Sloan, folks, has a hand up.
he's been allowed to speak. Good morning, Mr. Folks. Good morning, Chair Bergman. Can you hear
Good morning, Chair Bergman. Can you hear me?
me? I most certainly can. Could you state your name, please?
I most certainly can. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court's stenographer?
Yes. Good morning, board. My name is Sloan Folks, S -L -O -A -N -E -F -S and Fire, O -L -K -S,
Office of Council Member Ketzi Lozada, Room 584 City Hall.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, sir. Thank you.
Please proceed.
I just want to respond to the question regarding the 7th Ward RCO letter of support.
There were 10 attendees at the meeting who voted.
Actually, there were 15 people who attended the meeting.
Ten of them were near residents who voted.
The vote was unanimous.
Thank you for that information, Mr. Folks.
Mr. Folks?
Yes, sir.
You're going to get the councilwoman's position too, right?
Oh, we said I let her in, but the councilwoman, actually, she fully supports the project.
I let her sit down that position, but she fully supports it.
All right. Thank you very much.
Yes, sir.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no more hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning, David Vecta with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location
from general industrial to industrial and commercial mixed use the appellant requests
relief for dwelling units and parking we would argue that the existing building creates a
hardship to the building's reuse in a primarily residential block the city planning commission
recommends that the board grant the proposed use variants for multi -family dwelling units
and the variants from the parking provision in the zoning code thank you MI 2023 -006 -623
3408 to 50 B Street I vote yes
Thomas Holloman my vote is yes
James Snell my vote is yes
Counselor you have your votes
Thank you
Number 16 MI 2023
004 532 910
Durard Street Joseph Consul is the attorney
letter of support from the 50th Ward Democratic Executive Committee, RCO.
Joseph, counsel has been promoted, Chair.
Thank you.
Morning, Mr. Consul.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning, board.
Joe Consul.
It's J -O -S -E -P -H, last name, Consul, C -O -N -S -O -L -E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
It's Mr. Jonathan Wilder, W -I -L -D -E -R, and he's the owner.
All right.
Mr. Holloman has a few questions for you.
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Did you e -mail all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Okay. All right. That should be my packet. 910 Durard Street, Jonathan Wilder is the owner.
we are seeking to approve a um two unit use the property was built as a two unit
and has always been a two unit as i'll show you in a second the entire street both sides
were built as two unit properties however um while a lot of them and i'll just real quick
like zipped through a bunch of rental licenses, got their use approved before it was rezoned
as RSA 3, this one was not ever approved.
And so while it's always been that way, my client purchased it and needs to get it approved
for two units.
So the refusal is two -family household living prohibited in the RSA 3 zoning district.
Here's Derard Street.
As you can see, both sides of the street were built with identical properties at some point in the past.
And when my client purchased it from the estate of Cassandra Carey, you can see this was May of last year, that the property cert says two family.
However, at the bottom, as it always says, if it was discontinued, then a variance may be required, which is what we're here for.
Just going on the block that they live on, I found a bunch that have the two union approvals. There's 906, 900, 922, 924, 920, 926, 932, 928.
Just going on the block that they live on, I found a bunch that
um so moving to the rest of my packet we went in front of the 50th ward we got full support
one attendee was not not opposed but we've got no opposition and full support for the reason
given in their letter that the property uh and all the properties on that block are two unit
properties proof of mailing photos and plans there's the entrance to one which is the front
the property here's how all the all the properties are laid out only their mirror images of itself
and then there's on the side the entrance to unit two so you can see actually two's in the front
one's on the side there's the back they all have this side of the street they've got garages in the
back showing the two meters electrical meters and then we included some interior photos
my client
empty being renovated getting ready to rent out and then the deed and all the tax docs
with that i will call my client yep mr wilder could you raise your hand
do we see mr wilder
good morning he's been allowed to speak good morning mr wilder could you
state your name and spell please for the court sonographer yes jonathan wilder j -o -n -a -t -h -a -n
last name wilder w -i -l -d -e -r you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes sir i do please proceed counsel
good morning mr wilder did you hear my testimony about 910 derrard street
i did you i did yes do you adopt as your own i do all right thank you nothing further
questions from the board no mr chairman
i'm sorry chair i just kind of thank you thank you questions or comments from our attorney hillary
emerson just one clarification mr consul um the so that there are two garages for the unit so i
had two parking spaces uh no mr wilder i believe it's just one garage for yours and one's the
the property that's connected to it is that accurate i think he's still here
He's raising his hand.
I think there's two garages there.
There are two garages for each adjacent unit.
So I have two garages and the neighbor has two garages.
Thank you for the clarification.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
And good morning, David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the single -family zoning at this location.
However, the property has a longstanding history of being used as a two -family dwelling.
The appellant has demonstrated hardship, and the proposal is the minimum necessary variance.
So the City Planning Commission recommends the board grant their proposed use variance.
Thank you. MI 2023 -004 -532 -910 Durant Street. I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes
James Snell, my vote is yes
Thank you, you have your votes, counsel
Thank you, thank you
Number 17, MI 2023, 004 -108, 1018 -24 Art Street
Zen Jin is the attorney
There's a letter of support from Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation
with an enforceable proviso.
There's a letter of non -opposition with provisos from the RCO
from Council Member Squilla.
Good morning.
Please proceed, Council, and state your name.
Zen Jin, Z -H -E -N -J -I -N, 1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard,
Suite 1838, Philadelphia PA 19103, here on behalf of the applicant.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?
i do could you identify your client please yes my client is east coast investment inc
Yes, my client is East Coast Investment, Inc. They are the tenant of the property and the proposed operator of the use.
they are the tenant
All right. And Mr. Hallman has a few questions for you, sir.
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning.
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 five days in advance to this hearing?
yes thank you please proceed and share your screen thank you i will share with the board
what was submitted in our exhibit pack uh can everyone see my exhibit we can sir thank you
so we have uh submitted a copy of the refusal rco letter um in support from philadelphia
chinetown development corporation photos plans and relay documentation required by the code
I want to address first the refusal itself. This is an existing lot that was part of the
old Greyhound bus stop at the Chinatown location. This is Zone CMX5, and the proposal is to use it
as an accessory surface parking, which in essence is an extension of a pre -existing
non -conforming condition. This lot was originally zoned as a parking lot as part of the use from
the Greyhound station for many years. The last time a change of use was in the history records
was in the 1980s when they wanted to put some advertising signs on the parking lot.
The PCDC and my client actually met more than once. One of the primary concerns PCDC had,
and it's reflected in their proviso request is that we try to make this parking lot beneficial
to the community itself, to the Chinatown community. Obviously, the lot itself will be
operated as a for -profit business. However, my client will be providing various incentives and
discounts to people who are in the community, much like how it is done with the parking available to
um the uh the the i'm sorry it just escaped my mind for the moment um airman avenue i know no
it's it's uh the the center right next to chinatown okay i can't believe i'm not all right
it's okay it's okay that's okay so we're doing something very similar where there will be an
incentive to um reading terminal i'm sorry reading terminal okay so we'll be doing something very
similar to that to help uh make this more uh easily beneficial to the community when it comes to
parking within the lot. So I'm going to go to the actual plan at this point to explain what the
refusals and some of the changes the community wanted. So the refusals, one is obvious for the
use under CMX -5. But again, this is an existing parking lot. It is a paved over lot. And it has
been for many, many years. The buses used to come in and out of this lot from Greyhound. So we're
not really changing an existing condition much. We're trying to put it back to use.
Now, obviously in CMX5, you can do a high rise, you could do a building, but that is really a
very big project and it's beyond the current owner's financial ability to do. So they wanted
to lease it to my client to continue to use it as a parking lot, but to organize it better,
to bring some greenery space buffers to be put in, to put traffic control per the community's
requirement and to add lighting to this lot, which now would be lit at night to some degree
and would also be monitored because it is a valet service type parking. The second refusal for the
width of the driving aisle is partly because of the way the parking is stacked because they will
have valet managing it. So obviously the only drive aisle in the middle, while it is of the
requirement with, not all parking spots will have that required with, and that's by nature of how
this is laid out. So given its prior use for many years of a parking lot, given that we are looking
to use it as essentially an updated parking lot, we asked for the board's favorable review. Now,
PCDC requested a five -year limit on the permit based on the lease that we have. We have no
objection to that as far as that requirement is concerned. I'm happy to try to answer any
questions. I will, before I turn off the presentation, show the pictures to the board
of the location so that we can, again, get a feel for what this lot is. So this is, again,
a view from the back of the lot towards Arch Street, and this is the view from Arch Street
And this is the view from Arch Street towards the back of the lobby, where the Greyhound bus station used to be.
towards the back of the lot where the Greyhound bus station.
Thank you.
My client is here, too. Yes, my client is here.
Yenny, can you it's Yenny Drew, Z -H -U.
Can you raise your hand virtually to be identified?
Yenny Zhu has been allowed to speak.
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
My first name is Y -A -N. Last name is Z -H -U. Z -S -Z -B -R -A.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Yanni, did you see my presentation and hear my representation to the zoning board?
Can you verify what I have represented is true and correct and adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Counsel, before I give it, so to clarify, right now this has a variance until 2026. Am I correct?
Right now, I didn't look at it.
It says current lease term expires December 30th, 2026.
Yes, yes, the lease.
Yes, Mr. Chair, that's the lease.
Yes, Mr. Chair, there's not a current variant.
There's no current variants on the property.
You want the variants to go to 2029, am I correct?
Yes, because I believe there's an extension contemplated.
To put the investment in for my client, less than five years would be too short of the term.
All right, good.
All right, thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Hi, Mr. Chair, I'm sorry.
This is Tanya.
may I respectfully request
that we get the spelling
of her name just to have it
on record sir
who is Jans
yes please
hi could you
spell your name one more time please
you have to unmute
Jan could you unmute
please
can you hear me
yes please proceed okay so last name is z h u z as zebra h as hotel u as university
all right thank you very much thank you questions or comments from our attorney
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good afternoon david
effecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location the proposal is to change the
parking lot to accommodate car parking versus the previous bus parking parking lots are prohibited
in the current commercial mixed -use five zoning district
and the appellant requests permission
not to meet the required drive aisle width.
The City Planning Commission recommends
the board grant the proposed use
and dimensional variances
with a condition for a five -year temporary variance.
Thank you.
MI 2023 -004 -108 -1018 -24 Art Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
So, temporary variance expires 1 -31 -29.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with the proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Counsel, could you please stay on?
You have your votes, by the way.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So, number 18 is MI 2023 -004 -441 -1543 Morris Street.
Counsel, just for the record, state your name.
Yes, Zen Jin, Z -H -E -N -J -I -N.
And could you identify your client and the relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is Mr. Iwan Santoso, who is the owner of the property.
All right, and there's a letter of support from East Point Breeze neighbors.
Mr. Holloman has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing?
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
I will share with the board what was previously submitted as our exhibit.
So can the board see my exhibit?
We can.
Thank you.
So we submitted the following items in our exhibit.
Refusal, Letter of Support, Photos, Plans, and Related Documentation. This is an application
This is an application for use of a corner property at 1543 Moore Street as a proposed sit -down restaurant with an existing single -family dwelling above.
for use of a corner property.
Because it is Zone CMX1, the proposed use, eating and drinking establishment sit -down restaurant is prohibited.
When we met with the community, we met with overwhelming support for this proposal.
My client is very active in the community.
he actually owns a business in the community that's well -liked. This is going to be an ethnic
style restaurant, and he will be operating and managing it. The neighbors love him, so they know
that he has made improvements to the property, that he is someone who will take care of the
surroundings of the property. And these kind of boutique corner restaurants are not uncommon in
that area of Philadelphia. So we were met with support for the requested restaurant use. There
There are no real specific concerns raised by the community, but we are doing what is normal for restaurant use.
We're going to make sure that venting goes up, that trash would be controlled and managed inside.
He already has doors on the sidewalk, the Velcro doors, to allow the supplies to be brought in.
And the building itself does have an existing storage area in the back, which allows trash and other things to be maintained indoors.
The plans is pretty straightforward. The first floor only will be a restaurant. It's kind of a bar and table seating.
It is not expected to have heavy volume. Again, it's a small restaurant that will serve the local community,
which incidentally has a lot of residents
who are of the same ethnicity
and they're looking forward to the food
that he would be providing.
So that is why we're asking for the board
for a variance for this particular location.
It is a large enough space that we believe
would fit the use
and would not cause a detriment to the community.
If there are any questions from the board,
I'd be happy to redirect any part of the exhibit
or answer any questions.
And my client should be here to verify my testimony.
why don't we bring your client on to verify your testimony sure uh mr santoso can you raise your
hand virtually please good morning good morning could you state your name please and spell for
my name is iwan santoso i -w -a -n last name s -a -n -t -o -s -o right do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed counsel thank you
mr santoso did you see my uh presentation on your screen and hear my representation to the
zoning board yes can you verify what i have represented is true and correct and adopt and
adopt it as your own testimony yes i do thank you questions from the board no mr chairman
no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emberson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good afternoon david effecta
with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location there is no unique physical
condition or circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in conformance
with the zoning code. The City Planning Commission recommends the board deny the proposed use
variance for eating and drinking establishment sit -down restaurant. Thank you. MI 2023 -004 -441 -1543
Morris Street, I vote yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes. James Snell, my vote is yes.
You have your votes, counsel. Thank you. Have a good day, everyone. Thank you. Is there anyone in the virtual audience, the 930 case that they were here for was not called?
No hands, Chair. All right. Thank you, everyone. See you at 2 p .m.
All righty. Thank you.
good afternoon everyone my name is good afternoon everyone my name is bill bergman
and i will be chairing this afternoon's eba hearings with me is our vice chair ismail shaheed
president mr chairman our board member thomas holliman president mr chairman and our board
member james snell president mr chairman thank you also present is our attorney hillary emerson
and our executive director, Tanya Sunkit.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised that proceedings are being recorded.
Video will be available by contacting
tanyasunkit at phila .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
For the benefit of our court stenographer,
If you wish to participate by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548.
Leave your email and address to the property in question.
And finally, the question answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number one, MI 2023 -006 -215 -610 South Front Street.
That case is continued.
Be great with you.
Number four, MI 2023 -006 -173 -6812 Ogons Avenue, that case is continued.
Number six, MI 2023 -006 -339 -1706 Walnut Street, that case is continued.
Number eight, MI 2023 -006 -174 -2036 Spruce Street.
That case is continued.
Number 12, MI 2023 -006 -126 -706 -08 Porter Street.
That case is continued.
And number 14, MI -2023 -006 -168 -1708 Walnut Street.
Those cases have all been continued.
Anyone who has a comment relative to those cases or would like to request a continuance, please raise your hand.
I see no hands, Chair.
Thank you.
I also have two cases that have been withdrawn.
I'm sorry, Chair.
Excuse me.
A hand went up.
Last four numbers, 3552.
I will allow her to speak.
Hello?
Hello.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spelled for the court stenographer?
Yes, Adrienne Fernandez.
My last name is spelled F -E -R -N -A -N -D -E -Z.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Adrienne, what case are you interested in?
I just have a question about 3113 North 16th Street, whether it was dismissed or continued.
Let me see here.
what number is that guys adrian what was the address again
3100 north 16th i think she said it's 3113 north 16th street but it is a 330 case is what i'm
asking okay no all right no we have we haven't got that list yet thank you
okay so we're going to go with we have two cases that have been withdrawn
number seven mi 2023 004 699 2113 to 29 argan avenue that case has been withdrawn
and number 11, MI -2023 -003 -505 -2113 -29 -Argonado.
That case has been withdrawn.
We're going to go to our add -on list.
MI 2023
1017 to 21
East Palmer Street
One minute
At the request of the applicant and with the support of the coordinating RCO, the vote in this matter is being postponed to a later date as the parties plan to meet again to discuss changes to the project.
as the parties plan to meet again to discuss changes to the project.
Number two, MI 2023 -002 -942 -1546 -48 South 20th Street, I vote no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
James Snell, my vote is no.
This no, Shahid, my vote is no.
Thank you.
We're going to go to case two and we're going to hear along with case number 16.
Case two, MI 2023 -006 -166 -1301 West Venango Street.
And number 16 is MI 2023 -006 -163 -1303 -05 West Venango Street.
Joseph Consul is the attorney for both cases.
There is a letter of support from Nicetown Tioga Improvement Team with unenforceable provisos, but a unanimous vote on both cases.
Mr. Consul.
Good afternoon, board.
Mr. Consul, you've already been sworn, just for the record, state your name.
Joseph Consul.
That's Joseph Consul.
Right. Could you also identify your clients in relationship to these two properties?
Yeah. The owners are Roger and Olga Lydia, and Roger Panaglia is on the call today.
Right. Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
All right.
All right.
So I'm here for 1301, along with 1303 through 1305 West Finango Street.
I'll just kind of orient you.
It's this entire building here.
So it's like one, two, three properties sort of smushed together.
My clients purchased these properties in April of 2023.
When they purchased them, they were set up as seven units total.
I'll show you all the meters that have been there.
They are unaware as to when these units were converted to seven units, but the fact of the matter is, is they've been converted to seven units and they are, is my packet up now or is my?
I see, I see blank space right now.
That's my packet. Okay.
But they were converted and they were purchased by my clients as seven units.
So we've got 1301, and this is its own OPA number. We have a lack of footprint in order to support the number of units, as well as a lack of commercial space on the first floor, which would be required under the CMX2 code.
I'll note that the property was built and approved as it takes up the entire footprint, so it was approved without a yard, so the building's a little bit bigger than the footprint would actually suggest, so I think that that lends some credence to approval of these extra units.
For 1303 through 1305, we have a refusal that is similar. There's no commercial space on the first floor, and we're lacking some ground floor square footage that's required for approval of those units.
So 1301 is three units. 1303 through 05 is a total of four units.
As mentioned, we got approval at the Nicetown Tioga improvement team, the RCO.
As you mentioned, there were several provisos that they mentioned, although we don't believe that they are necessarily enforceable.
got some photos so the way it's kind of laid out and maybe it's better if I show you on a map
let's see if that actually if that helps yeah okay so we've got an entrance to 1301 on the left
we've got an entrance to 1301 on the left 1303 in the middle 1303 and then 1305 and then i'll show
you the floor plan so you kind of get an idea of what the building actually looks like inside
the floor plan we'll go to the as built first floor plan first floor floor plan
The first floor of 1301, which is to the left, is a studio. 1303 in the middle is a studio. 1305 is a one -bedroom on the first floor.
Moving on to the second floor of each of the buildings, 1301 and 1303 are both bi -level units, and so they each extend from the second floor to the third floor, and you've got three bedrooms on the third floor for each of them.
So 1301 is a studio and three bedrooms. 1303 is a studio and three bedrooms. And 1305 has one unit on the first floor, one unit on the second floor with two bedrooms, and then on the third floor, another unit with two bedrooms.
So it's a total of seven units broken down, as I just described.
There's two of the meters.
Here's two more in the basement.
And there's four more for a total of eight meters, one being the common meter.
We also supplied all the other required documents, proof of mailing.
and tax clearance certificate.
I would submit that conversion back to a CMX2 approved property would not be feasible
as my clients purchased it as such.
The meters are set up and the properties, for the most part, are occupied by tenants
as they were at the time of purchase.
Furthermore, we have support from the community.
They appreciated the reasonable rents and the fact that my clients have been, you know, decent, if not licensed landlords since they started this journey back in April of last year.
With that, I'll call my client, Roger, to raise his hand and adopt my testimony.
Mr. Roger, can you please raise your virtual hand?
there he is i will allow him to speak sir could you please state your name and spell for the
first name is roger r -o -g -e -r last name honey i was e -a -n -i -a -g -u -a you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes sir please proceed counsel
good afternoon roger did you hear my testimony just now regarding your two properties at 1301
1303 to 1305 west venango street yes do you adopt it as your own
do you agree with what i said just the addresses are backwards on the explanation
okay but those are my properties and my wife's here meaning the floor plans that i showed
would have been 1305 on the left and 1301 on the right that is correct okay my apologies
questions from the board no mr chairman no chair no chair questions or comments from our attorney
hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands here planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
um peter just for the record um spell your last name
My name is Peter Barnard, B as in boy, A as in apple, R as in Roger, N as in Nancy, A as in apple, R as in Roger, D as in dog.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair.
Please proceed.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing CMX2 commercial mixed -use zoning at this location.
We feel the applicant has a demonstrated hardship and the proposed is the minimum necessary variance.
accordingly the planning commission recommends the board grant the variance
I'm going to do these both together.
i'm gonna do these together yeah so excuse me um peter
Excuse me.
Peter, was that recommendation for both of the properties?
Sorry, Hillary.
Thank you for clarification.
Yes, that recommendation is for both properties.
Thank you so much.
MI 2023 -006 -166 -1370.
T -01 Venango Street.
And MI
006163
1303205
West Venango Street. I vote
yes for both.
Thomas Holloman
my vote is yes
for both.
James Snell my vote is yes
to both.
Thank you.
If no Shahid my vote is yes to both.
Thank you.
Number five, MI 2023, 006171611 South Street.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
No RCO letter, but a meeting was held South Street Head House District on 11624.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair.
We missed number three.
Oh, I'm sorry.
MI 2023 -006251, 701 South Broad Street.
Michael Phillips, Stephanie Boggs -Bagnett are the attorneys.
Letter of non -opposition from the Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition.
Ms. McNatta has been promoted, Chair.
Good afternoon, Counsel. You've already been sworn. Could you just state your name for the record, please?
Yes, Stephanie McGonaghan.
Right. Could you also identify your client and relationship?
Yes, my client is Hightop Broad Acquisition LLC. They are the owner of the property.
All right. And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I have.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
so the property is 701 south broad street obviously it's a long south broad street
between bainbridge and kennelworth street it's occupied by an existing seven -story building that
was previously approved with commercial retail space at the ground floor and uses visitor
accommodations above here is one of the vacant tenant spaces that is located at the corner of
South Broad Street and Kenilworth Street. That's the subject of this application.
A local franchisee who has experience with Papa John's restaurants is looking to open a new
location at this tenant space at the corner. It's currently vacant and obviously will be fitted out
for the new use if it's approved. Specifically, it would be limited to Space C, as shown on the
key plan here. Use for a Papa John's restaurant, I'm sure everybody's familiar with Papa John's,
but it's classified as a takeout restaurant under the Philadelphia zoning code.
It does require a special exception in the overlay for this district, so we are asking for approval for that reason.
The only change of use that's proposed with this application is for the takeout restaurant at this tenant space on the ground floor,
specifically Space C at the corner of Broad and Kenilworth.
All other previously approved uses of the building are to remain the same.
So we are proposing a proviso plan that was submitted with our exhibit package to document the location of the specific use that we're seeking approval for.
We did present this application to Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition on January 3rd.
Their letter of non -opposition is included within our packet.
it. The franchisee, as I said, has experience with other, they are a local franchisee, but they have
experience with other Papa John's restaurants that they own in the region and in the city. So they
are familiar with best practices for hours of operation and operating this business. Specifically
at this location, there are existing building facilities that will be utilized, such as indoor
trash storage and loading pickup off of Bainbridge Street. This restaurant will utilize those
facilities in connection with their operations they have also taken steps to you know mitigate
any potential traffic concerns that we discussed with hawthorne in particular they will be using
e -bikes for their delivery services as well as obviously offering offering opportunity for local
hiring to the local neighborhood so they are looking for this not only to be an amenity to
Looking for this, not only to be an amenity to the building, but compatible with this location and the broader neighborhood. But with that, I will ask Chris Patel, who is the franchisee, to raise his hand, and he can answer any operational questions, if there are any. We also have Ryan Lobauer from Hightop here as well, if there are questions for ownership.
the building, but compatible with this location.
Chris, can you please raise your hand if you haven't done so already?
Hi, Chris has been allowed to speak.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Hi, board.
Chris Patel, C -H -R -I -S -P -A -T -E -L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Hi, Chris.
Did you hear the statements I made to the board just now?
Was everything correct?
Correct.
Would you adopt them as your own?
Statements?
With that, we'll be happy to answer any questions.
All right.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
no chair
no chair
questions or comments from our attorney
Hilary Anderson
not at this time Mr. Chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands chair
planning commission
good afternoon chair Peter Bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the existing CMX -3 commercial mixed use at this location. We feel a proposal would
not have more impact than could reasonably be expected for the use. Accordingly, the Planning
Commission recommends the Board grant the special exemption. Thank you. MI 2023 -006 -251 -701 South
Broad Street, I vote yes with proviso. Use limited to Space C as per key plan stamped by ZBA January
31st 2024. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso. James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso. Thank you, counsel. Thank you. Okay, number five,
MI 2023 -006 -171 -611 South Street. Alan Notkinson is the attorney. There's no RCO letter,
but the meeting was held on South Street Head House District on 116 -24.
Mr. Nockmson.
Alex Goldberg is coming in as a panelist, Chair.
Mr. Chair, I have two brief updates on this.
So we received a copy of a signed good neighbor agreement.
It was signed between the South Street Head House District and the applicant in this case.
And we just received a letter of non -opposition from Councilmember Squilla, provided that the applicant follows through on the Good Neighbor Agreement.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Goldberg, please state your name and spell for the court stenographer.
Alex Goldberg, A -L -E -X -G -O -L -D -B -E -R -G -H.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
My client is Lee and Pan, SST, LLC, and its representative James Pan is in the audience.
They are the owners of the property.
Thank you.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal to relate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share the screen.
okay are you able to see my screen we can sir great
um okay so my name is alex goldberg of knockamson pc i'm here presenting uh we are seeking a
variance for visitor accommodation at 611 south street we met with south street head house district
on January 16th.
As referenced previously,
a formal letter did not come in in time.
We do have a letter,
or rather a good neighbor agreement
signed by my client and the RCO
stating that the RCO was in agreement
upon the execution of that document.
I'll read the relevant portions of that document
into the record.
and council member squillas zoning agent for slavic also issued a letter of non -opposition
from the council member's office it's my understanding based on a string of emails
is that she actually spoke to representatives of the south street head house district today
regarding this matter i'm hoping that miss slavic is in the call and can sort of relay the information
from that call. I'm going to jump into the presentation materials. We have a notice of
i'm going to jump into the presentation materials we have a notice of refusal
refusal correspondence.
correspondence from the south street head house district it's that executed good neighbor
agreement we also have the letter from the district council member nearby airbnb listings
as well as a description of ours as well we have some reviews zoning maps and other maps
of the area we have photos of the exterior the surrounding area and interior photographs
basic floor plan the rco meeting notice the application of a repeal the deed to the property
and the certificate of tax clearance here's the notice of refusal it was issued in october
you can see we're seeking the for use as visitor accommodations on the third floor and the loft
that's attached to that third floor which is above the first and second floor which is currently
a single commercial tenant painting with a twist. They occupy both of those spaces and we're seeking
to keep those uses as existing. This is a CMX2 property. It's on South Street. You know, this
type of use is appropriate on South Street due to the ample public parking, both on the street and
parking garages nearby. In addition to the restaurants and bars and nightlife, things like
that that makes South Street an attractive place for people that are visiting our city
to stay there. Here is the correspondence from the coordinating RCO. We worked collaboratively
with them on this document. They would like me to read the sort of bullet points into the record.
I'll be brief. So the owner will execute a good neighbor agreement. You'll see the signatures on
the following page. We're going to implement quiet hours or continue to do so from 10 p .m. to 7 a .m.
We're going to limit the occupancy to eight individuals, skip for a given stay.
We are specifying that the roof deck furniture is not propane powered.
It's just furniture.
There's no heater up there.
We are specifying that guests will need to leave their trash in their rear yard.
It will be removed by their professional management company upon checkout.
We are going to be confirming the number of individuals entering the property upon checkout.
as well as asking for identification and turning away guests that are requesting one night stays and local guests with local area codes,
trying to sort of find ways to mitigate anything negative that could possibly happen at Airbnb such as this.
We have provided near neighbors and the RCOs that were present at the community meeting.
I believe there were three with contact information for the property owners as well as the management company.
And then I'm going to just go to the second page. You can see here it's signed by James Pan, a representative of Lee and Pan SST LLC, as well as Eleanor Ingersoll, the executive director of the South Street Headhouse District.
Here's the council member's letter, which just came in moments ago, you know, regarding the non -opposition that that office is taking with respect to the good neighbor agreement that I just read through.
So here's the nearby Airbnb listing.
So not out of character here.
Something of note that I can point out here as well as on the upcoming map, we share a
party wall with a firehouse that has made it hard in the past for Mr. Pan to rent this
as a long -term rental when he purchased this property about two years ago.
They did some nice cosmetic repairs on the inside, which you'll see from the photos,
and tried to rent it as a long -term rental.
were unsuccessful part of the reason is because south street can be allowed um you add on top of
that sharing the wall with a firehouse um and you know at that point they decided to sort of pursue
a short -term rental use and here we are here's the airbnb listing there's some photos here as well
as photos later in the presentation this is basically a description that's given for the
tenants or the guests. Here's the reviews. Zoning map. So again, CMX2 property. We are bordering
RM1. There's CMX3. There's a mix of uses around this part of the city. But again,
South Street is definitely a commercial corridor where this type of use is most appropriate.
Here's the Google Maps perspective. Photos. This is the front. This building is fortunate
to have a breezeway here on the right side that actually goes into the unit that we're discussing
today as well as the rear yard. So that's fortunate for Mr. Pan that his tenants upon
leaving the property, they can store their trash in the rear yard. So it is removed from the living
space and the professional management company can easily remove it from the property. Here's a post.
And the professional management company can easily remove it from the property.
Here's a posting photo.
This is to the right, to the left.
And here's the interior photograph.
So, again, very nice, clean, professionally managed, great reviews.
We had a really constructive conversation in the RCO meeting about how to sort of make this an asset to the community
and make sure that the local, you know, the nearby neighbors are all on board, they can be well
informed, and we have their support for that. Here's the architectural plan drawing, so it's a
three -bedroom, three -bath. There's a loft up here with some additional living space that leads out
onto a back deck. Here's the RCO meeting notice. Again, we met on January 16th. The notice was
mailed out well in compliance of the city's requirements it was also emailed to the rcos
uh and miss slavic and the relevant other rco uh emails um 102 properties in total were notified
this is the list of those properties here's the bulk mailing certificates our application for
appeal and then lastly oh here's the deed lee and pan south street llc
and the tax clearance showing that the only outstanding taxes those not yet due
with that i'm going to briefly unshare my screen and i'd like to call mr pan to adopt my testimony
Mr. Pan is allowed to speak.
Mr. Pan, could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer?
Yes. Hi, my name is J. Ming Pan, J -I -A -M -A -N -G -P -A -N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Mr. Pan, did you hear my testimony today?
did you did you hear my testimony today yes and was it true and correct yes and you adopt it as
if it were your own yes thank you questions from the board no chair no mr chairman questions or
comments from our attorney hillier emerson just briefly mr chair i did receive and i i believe
Mr. Goldberg received this to just an email from Jennifer Slavik and Councilmember Skwila's office, just noting she is she is in the audience, but they did not get verbal confirmation from the RCO.
They only received the good neighbor agreement.
OK, thank you. Thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
There are no hands here.
Questions or comments?
Planning commission.
Good afternoon, Chair. Peter Bernard for the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing CMX2 commercial mixed -use zoning at this location.
We feel the applicant has failed to demonstrate any hardship as the housing unit could be rented out on a long -term basis.
Accordingly, the Planning Commission recommends the Board deny the variance.
Thank you.
MI 2023 -006 -171 -611 South Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Temporary variance expires 1 -31 -27.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Okay, thank you, sir.
Number nine, MI 2023 -006 -217 -2628 -44 Martha Street.
Joseph Consul is the attorney.
No RCO letter, but meeting was held 110 -24 by the East Kensington Neighbors Association.
And there's a letter of non -opposition from Council Member Squillin.
um mr jerson update on that one um uh mr consul received and forwarded to us a recommendation
of non -opposition um from the east kensington neighborhood association thank you and uh mr
consul just could you state your name for the record joseph consul
we can't hear you joe joseph consul yep okay right uh could you also
identify your client and relationship to the property yeah my clients are dylan carr and
Yeah, my clients are Dylan Carr and Andrew Robinson, the chief owners of Crown and Feather Tattoo.
andrew robinson the uh
Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the stipulated X or waive the refusal?
Yes, the referral is accurate.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
yes thank you please proceed to your screen okay coming up on my packet all right 2628
through 44 martha street this building i've been in front of the board twice in the past for the
same referral it's kind of an artist space a maker space and has attracted a community of
like -minded body artists the clients i'm here for today crown and feather tattoo already have a space
in the building and they're doing so well that they're expanding into a another space and then
they're getting a third space which are actually connected but they're two separate units one's
going to be an office and one's going to be an additional space for tattoo artists so we're here
for the office and the which is an accessory to the tattoo studio the uh refusal is actually it's
a referral as i mentioned before for body art service requires a special exception in the zoning
district we went in front of ecna earlier this month and we got um yeah they they're saying
non -opposition. As you can see, we got 10 support and no votes of opposition or non -opposition. I
guess that's their position is non -opposition versus support. Either way, we're hopeful that
the fact that my clients have been in there successfully and are seeking to expand plus
the letter of non -opposition should be enough for the board to approve this special exception.
uh and i also include in the packet photos and plans just showing the building that's that's the
space uh as well as a uh site plan showing where my clients units are located um and finally
the tax clearance certificates as well as uh two leases one for each of the two spaces that i
had mentioned, and some examples of work, but the leases are spaces 3D and 3E, and all that's
included in the packet that was submitted and updated earlier today for the board attorney.
With that, I'll call my clients, whichever one wants to raise their hand, either Dylan or Andrew.
Dylan Carr will be allowed to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yep, it's Dylan Carr.
That's D -Y -L -A -N -C -A -R -R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Receive counsel.
Good afternoon, Dylan.
Did you hear my testimony just now regarding your proposed statements on Martha Street?
Yes, I did.
Do you adopt it as your own?
Yes, I do.
Okay, nothing further.
questions from the board no chair no chair
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
mr consul do you have leases for this that are signed by the landlord i
don't i can't seem to find that i've received those uh dylan did you send me uh landlord signed leases
i'll mute myself i did but i can double check on that okay can i can i get them to you immediately
after after the hearing hillary um yes that will that will be okay okay questions or comments
from the virtual audience thank you no hands here cleaning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing irmx zoning at this location
which was updated in 2016 as part of a we feel there will be no adverse impact from the proposed
use accordingly the planning commission recommends the forward grant the variance
Thank you. MI 2023 -006 -217 -2628 -44, Martha Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Mr. Moshahi, my vote is yes.
Mr. Counsel, we're going to take the next one. MI 2023 -006 -246 -319 North 11th Street.
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Ms. Carrie Burke.
she is the uh the subtenant of um of the master tenant at this building our voice share has a
few questions yeah so do you agree away the reading of the refuse or stipulate to it yes
have emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that's needed and required to proceed
with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i believe we sent a required lease
extension to the board attorney about a half hour ago but otherwise i think everything's
been in your possession for five days thank you please proceed and share your screen okay
all right this is 319 north 11th street this is the vox populi building uh again a building full
of artists and makers and that sort of thing my client today is miss carrie burke the uh she's
an artist, a body artist, who is seeking approval to use this space that she's renting in the
building for tattooing and body art. Similar to my last case, we've got a referral. Suite 4N
of the Vox Populi building is zoned IRMX, so same zoning, also a special exception to approve
of Body Art Services. We went in front of the Callow Hill Neighborhood Association in December
and they voted unanimously to support the granting of the special exception
and to welcome Carrie into their neighborhood. Additionally, in my packet I've included photos
and plans of the space a site plan showing her um the interior and sort of the layout of her
workstations and everything like that as well as the other required documents tax clearance
certificate as well as some examples of miss burke's work and her sublease agreement and as
mentioned. We updated
the master lease, which
had expired earlier today
to just show that
Carrie as a subtenant was
approved to do so.
That's it.
With that, I'll call Carrie
Burke to raise her virtual hand.
Carrie Burke is allowed to speak.
Could you please state your name
and spell for the court sonographer?
Carrie Burke, K -E -R -R -Y, B -U -R -K -E.
Do you swear or firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Good afternoon, Carrie.
Did you hear my testimony just now regarding your proposed space at 319 North 11th?
Yes, I did.
Do you adopt it as your own?
Thank you.
Nothing further, board.
Questions from the board?
No, chair.
no chair questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands chair planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the existing irmx zoning at this location was updated in 2015 as part of a neighborhood
remapping we feel there would be no adverse impact from the proposed use accordingly the
planning commission recommends the board grant the variance thank you my 2023 -006 -246 -319
north 11th street i vote yes thomas holliman my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number 13, MI 2023, 006249, 641 North 33rd Street.
Alan Nockmson is listed as the attorney.
Recommendation of support from the Manchua Civic Association.
Alan Nackamson has been promoted here.
Hi, Mr. Nockamson. You've already been sworn today. Could you just state your name for the record?
Alan Nockamson.
And could you identify your client, a relationship to this property?
Yes. Lie, Penn, U -City, LLC, and the virtual audience is Simon Lie.
And just out of curiosity, is this for both units?
i'm sorry say one more time mr chair is is this for the whole building both units yes for the
whole whole building that is correct so yeah so i actually asked miss emerson this question we've
our office asked miss emerson this question before before we've done provisos where we have the
multi -unit building where we ask for provide and when so our client submits this they just
to admit it for visitor accommodations, but we usually do a proviso two units, visitor
accommodation. By my understanding from Ms. Emerson, that's not necessary, but I defer
to the board. Okay. That's correct, Mr. Nockerman, that is necessary. It just wasn't clear from
this case if it was the whole building or it was like an owner -occupied building and they
were just requesting it for one of the units. I think that's where the chair's question came
FROM. THANK YOU. OUR VICE CHAIR HAS A FEW QUESTIONS, SIR. COUNCIL, DO YOU AGREE TO READ THE REFUSAL OR STIPULATE TO HIS ACCURITY?
YES, WE DO. HAVE YOU EMAILED IN ALL THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS AND EXHIBITS THAT'S NEEDED
TO PROCEED WITH THIS CASE FIVE DAYS IN ADVANCE OF THIS HEARING? YES, WE HAVE.
THANK YOU. PLEASE PROCEED AND SHARE YOUR SCREEN. THANKS.
all right so this is a pretty straightforward uh project i would say hopefully easier than
the morning session uh 641 north 33rd street um airbnb you know we're at the corner 33rd
and wallace um we have unanimous support from the community in mantua um and we have a a good
property owner here. Not that anyone was bad in the morning session, but I think this is a very
straightforward project. So we're going to review the notice of refusal, the letter of support from
the Manitua Civic Association, the nearby Airbnb listings. Again, what we're offering is not out
of character in this portion of Manitua. The host profiles showing that my client has good reviews
for what he's done, you know, prior to the change in law. Maps of the area, photographs of the
property, interior photographs, which we simply got off of their BB website, simple floor plans,
our RCO meeting notice, along with proof of mailing of that notice, our application for
appeal that we filed on behalf of our client, the deed to the property showing their ownership in
the property, and the certificate of tax clearance. Again, at the conclusion of my presentation,
I would ask that Mr. Lai virtually raise his hand, get sworn in, and I'll have a few questions for
Notice refusal.
So this is an RMO property.
There are two units in there, and we're looking to use both units for visitor accommodations.
Because of the zoning classification, we have this refusal.
Letter of support, unanimous support from the Manitoba Civic Association.
Well, five people in support, three people in non -opposition, and two people abstain.
I would assume I was one of them.
But we have eight people that attended this meeting.
all in support or in non -opposition to this project.
And then nearby Airbnb listings,
as you can see where we are at the corner of 33rd and Wallace.
There's a number of Airbnbs nearby.
And I think that this mixes well
within this portion of the community.
Host profile, we just pulled this from Airbnb.
Very good reviews, very pretty interiors.
And then maps of the area.
This is a multifamily section of Mantua, and that's where you see all that orange there.
And then you'll see from a Google Maps perspective, we're not that far off of 76.
And then photographs of the property, you know, from different angles, from 33rd Street, from Wallace.
There's an entrance for each unit separately, one on Wallace for one unit, one on 33rd Street for the other unit.
And then here's our orange, you know, posters that we posted three weeks before today's hearing and proof of that.
And then here's 33rd Street from different angles, Wallace Street from different angles.
And then our interior photos, pretty straightforward and basic, but clean and well -maintained.
And then just their simple floor plans. Like I said, one unit, you know, unit A is the first floor and we'll.
One unit, you know, unit A is the first floor and lower level has one entrance.
The second unit has a separate entrance, you know, on Wallace Street, and that's the second and third floors.
Meeting notice, we met with the community on January 18th at 5 p .m.
Proof of email to the community meeting, coordinating the RCO and the other RCOs.
Proof of mailing will be coming up, but we've mailed it to 105 addresses.
Proof of mailing to those addresses, our application for appeal that we file on behalf of our client,
along with the notice of refusal and the project information form, our deed to the property, and our certificate of tax clearance.
The only reason why there's a balance, again, taxes are not due until the conclusion of the first quarter of this year.
I would ask that Mr. Lai virtually raise his hand and be sworn in.
Do we see his hand?
Yes, he's been allowed to speak here.
All right, sir, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, it's Simon Lee.
It's S -I -M -O -N -L -I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
yes sir please proceed counsel oh yes mr lee uh you heard everything i had to state today
about your zoning matter correct and is it true and correct yes and do you adopt as your own
testimony yes thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no chair questions or comments
from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual
audience no hands chair planning commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rm1 multi -family zoning at this
location we feel the applicant has failed to demonstrate any hardship as the housing units
could be rented out on a long -term basis accordingly the planning commission recommends
the board denies the variance. Thank you. MI 2023 -006 -249 -641 North 33rd Street. I vote yes
with proviso. Temporary variance expires 1 -31 -27. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
My vote is just with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
Okay, here we go.
Number 15, MI 2023 -003 -510 -2809 -13 Master Street, Darwin Beauvais is the attorney, there's
an email from the coordinating rco brewery town chargewood community civic association
it's a position of non -opposition nine in support seven in opposition three abstentions
and then there's a a note that there are several neighbors who have complained
Darwin Beauvais has been promoted.
Good afternoon, Mr. Beauvais.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
First name Darwin, D -A -R -W -I -N.
Last name Beauvais, B -E -A -U -V, as in victory, A -I -S, as in Sam.
With the law firm of Obermeyer, located at 1500 Market Street.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
My client is Axe Transitional Services, and the director, pastor, is Reverend Janine Gant.
Our vice chair has several questions for you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
Then all the recorded documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with these five days
in advance of this hearing. I have. Thank you, council. Please proceed and share your screen.
On my screen.
Thank you.
are you able to see we can okay okay mr chairman
and members of the board. Before you, it is an application to expand an existing woman's shelter
in an RM1 zoning district located in a brewery town, Sharpswood section of the city. Specifically,
our application is to allow ACTS Christian Transitional Services to use its basement
for temporary overflow of shelter services in its main facility. Like I mentioned before,
I have with me Ms. Reverend Gant, the owner and spiritual leader for the program and senior pastor of Acts the Apostle Church, which is the overarching entity that spearheaded this program.
Now, by way of background, we've submitted to the board Exhibits 1 through 17, where we have our referral, our tax clearance deed, our appeal, photos, the memorandum of law, zoning history, as well as the support letters attached.
So I just want to start with Exhibit 5, where we can just explain the background.
could you shrink it down a little bit we can only see the top oh okay why is that
a little better maybe even a little smaller
all right let me just
let me see if i could stop sharing and try it again
i think you're in good shape now all right so just by way of the background acts began as a
ministry of Acts of the Apostles Church in 1976 by opening its doors to abused women and children
seeking refuge. The ministry grew into a full -fledged woman and children's program that
provides multi -level base of holistic and comprehensive supportive services as they go
through stressful time periods living in between homes. Acts provide services to women and their
children and strives to improve the quality of life of each resident during these times. As such,
AXE is part of a citywide network of homeless shelters that provides services through the
city's Office of Homeless Services. AXE has been a gem in the city agency system in that they
provide comfortable, safe, drug -free, and supportive environments for the individuals
coming through. Now, since its inception, they served over 1 million meals to families
in need by being a pioneer in the development of programming and collaboration with other
supportive service agencies. Some of those agencies or some of the collaborations that
they're known for is that they've actually assisted the school district in their fight
for a homeless student initiative. They've also worked with PHMC's Healthcare for the Homeless
Project, and they've worked with the Philadelphia Archdiocese in its Nutritional Development Project.
Now, if I can just orient the board to this slide, let me see if I can bring it up. So,
this is the campus this used to be owned by the archdiocese and just for identification purposes
we let's call this building a which used to be the rectory building b which used to be the school
for the that was part of the archdiocese which is where the subject of our our application is
building C, which was administrative offices, and building D, which is the church. So A, B,
C, D. And these designations are our actual true designation.
And these designations are actual true designations based on the tax parcel maps.
So we have one address, and it's identified as Building A, B, C, and D.
Now, Building B is over 20 ,000 square feet, and it's currently permitted for 100 people to stay in as a shelter unit.
That was this permit that actually, actually, it's mentioned here in our referral.
In 2007, maximum of 100 persons in building B.
Darwin could you go back
to that one more time
I have a note here
in 2013 there was a temporary
three year variance given
and with that
we were actually here before
and that's this permit
for the same reasons
we're here today
we needed overflow
we need an overflow for the city's code blue whenever there's a code blue the city scours
the the agency scours the city to ensure that there's no one staying outside and that that
was in third that was in 13 darwin and that was in 13 and it was only a three -year temporary
variance and we were given a three -year now we're not asking for a three -year because what
what what happens is that we'll find ourselves in an emergency situation and that's been our
experience and once there's an emergency here's my point what i'm saying is in 2006 16 that
variance went away that variance went away so there's no variance now that yeah it's a special
exception but there's no there's no approval okay and is that the way hillary is that the
way you understand it too there's there's no variance there now so yeah my my understanding
based based on talking with ellen i is that the group living use is that that when that was allowed
it was only for three years so that group living use expired so there's actually more than just
an expansion of the use is actually the entire use that needs to be approved
for this property.
That's actually taking away
this approval
in 2007.
But the 2000,
but from what
it appears
on here, the
building B, the use changed.
The building what?
In building B.
in building b it was uh it was rooming units and then it changed to group living
um and so and that use was made temporary so it appears that that use expired
not just at least from what this is showing here our application then and now was for
group living in the basement, solely for the purposes of dealing with Code Blue.
This has been a shelter for over 30 years. If you're saying that it went back to a rooming
house it went back to 2007 that's that's acceptable but to say that the entire building
is is is not uh is not approved i i don't know if we could accept that i'm saying the entire
building's not approved so it's it the prior approval is not limited to a specific portion
of the building they approved group living within an existing three -story structure with the cellar
in building b that was only for a three -year temporary variant yes with i'm saying that
right so i'm saying the group the group living use is gone um and it it appears from here that it
replaced the previous use from 2007 because it doesn't say anything about retaining the prior
use. But that would be a subject to interpretation by L &I. Or at least to the board, because
if I would think L &I will say that the entire building was not approved.
The entire building was not approved.
Our application is for overnight shelter within the cellar.
Yeah, so there's no mention.
There's no mention specifically of the cellar.
It mentions a three -story structure with the cellar.
Typically, uses they don't specify unless it's absolutely necessary, the exact location.
And when I discuss this with L &I, the number of beds really, it doesn't matter in this
site unless we had to look at parking it's just the it's the use the the use that matters so um
i think that's why this got refused is because they didn't see that this this use existed at
this property anymore because of the temporary variant again it's a referral but and our
application was first for 15 people in the cellar and right and i understand that
Right. But that's not, unfortunately, what they issued the refusal for. And it appears that the use is needed for the entire building. It's not a problem for the hearing today. It's just that we have to be clear on what is before the board.
I think you're asking for the whole building. Am I right, Hillary?
That's what it appears on the history. When I discussed it, I didn't get to discuss it with Ellen and I until this morning.
And that's what my understanding was in discussing it with them and looking at the fact that the prior group living use was only approved as a temporary variance.
then it's it's up to the board to i would think it's up to the board to interpret what what what
our application is because it's clear that we are asking for an extension into this into the seller
um it's it was already declared a rooming house it's already and if and if the examiner believed
that this use was gone we should have received a violation along with along with this referral
to which we haven't i don't know that the examiners will issue violations in tandem
he could have referred it to the inspectors for a violation we submitted this back in may
and and today no violations has come around and it's not like the LNI doesn't come around
we've we've we've had inspections before but that was never brought to our attention
um I appreciate the examiner but I I don't know if it's if if LNI is just doing a intellectual
exercise because clearly based on that interpretation we've been in violation for
for since 2013 16 well either way you're before the board before you're before the board now
seeking a referral for the use so i i think that's the point i'm saying darwin you're asking
for the whole building now yeah and and if that's if that's how we are i just don't want it to be
befall on us asking us to re uh to amend our application if if the board so choose and if
they're and if they're accepting that this entire use has or prior uses are completely wiped away
and they're looking as you said mr chairman that we're looking for the entire building then so be
it we're looking for the entire building we do that hillary yeah so it's so the way the way it
is written is for the entire building the way this refusal is written it is not written specifically
for the seller so it's written for the entire building which is typically how lni does it when
it puts you know puts a new use it doesn't specify unless there's you know a reason to specify um
And so I when talking with L &I, there was no problem if this needed to be looked at for the entire building, because that's how the refusal is written.
That's how they look at the uses.
Understood.
The thing that would be just to clarify, I think that would be different is while there's been other uses.
at this property um and the seller may not have been used or only used a while ago for the use
that may need a building permit specifically to allow you know habitable space in the basement
um there may already be permits on file building wise related to the other uses and but that's
something right so that's right so that's that's a separate issue but in terms of the zoning
Right. So that's that's a separate issue. But in terms of the zoning, if it's the whole building, that is not a problem based on how the refusal is written.
Um, if.
Understood. So, Mr. Chairman, I would ask that the board consider the use for the entire building, also indicating that we would like to be able to occupy the basement for Code Blue,
which is a standard that the Office of Homelessness has in order to remove individuals off the street during freezing weather is purely a life safety.
these families
yeah I mean I
you know when we vote
I'll talk to Hillary about it but I agree
the whole building and the
basement will be used for cold blue
days is that okay
and with
that in mind
I would say that we did
receive a referral as you can see
and it is group living and it's not a variance it's a special exception and with that we submit
that we're still in compliance with section 3037E of the code because we're not building any new
additions we we submit that our proposal doesn't create any overcrowding within the three floors
as well as the basement we'll be accommodating several families during the winter storms
in the basement, but that's only during those times that it's cold blue. We do not create
congestion within the right -of -way because our use is indoors, and we submit that the use
is a burden on utilities because we are, again, within a contained building that once was a
campus for the archdiocese um again if we can look at the the building that's a close -up
of what we have um here is our posters
and let me see, and again, when it comes to support, we did receive support from public
health management, which is also a contractor of the city and helps manage homelessness
throughout the city.
Here is an email from the Office of Homeless Services.
And what we also have is an email of non -opposition
from the Brewery Town, Shoresworth.
Now, I do know that here's our notice for the public hearing.
Again, here's where the buildings are posting.
posting
that is
a curiosity
Darwin
do you have
pictures of
the inside
or just
the outside
of the
building
here is
a playroom
the seating area
for infants
this is a gathering room
as well as an eating space
there are bathrooms
bathrooms
here is the
basement
single flight
of stairs on one side
there's another view of the basement
and I think that
If we can, I would like to identify Reverend Gantt, if she could be called up.
Reverend Gantt, can you raise your virtual hand, please?
the reverend has been allowed to speak
reverend could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
yes janine m gant j -e -n -n -e -a -n -m for marlilla g -a -n -t -t
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Please proceed, counsel.
Ms. Gant, Reverend Gant, have you heard everything that I stated today?
I have.
And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I'll open myself up to questions.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
just briefly mr chair um mr bouvet um it was my understanding from the exhibit packet that
the client was kenmar properties because there was a deed included and no lease um
we we need a in order to complete the records on this case we need we need a lease
email that i can email that to you right now thank you let me just stop sharing
uh and just for the record kenmar is just one of the holding a holding entities for the church
so it's all one big family thank you for the clarification
i just sent it to board council
Let me know when you received it.
I'm watching.
Thank you.
And I'm just curious, Hillary,
When our application, we did say with all other uses previously approved, and you're saying that the examiner believes that there were no other uses previously approved because when the last approval came, it wiped out the 2007 permit?
So, so looking at the language on the 2013 permit, it looks like for building B that the use was changed from single room residence to group living. And then that use was made temporary. That's what it that's what it looks like because there's two there's two buildings referenced in both 20 2007 and 2013. And it's just the it's just the building B.
and and yeah and i'm just curious because this you know we we know a lot of the people in
elanon the examiner was chelly who's no longer there so this was could there have been somebody
else who who is giving this interpretation no i i was not talking with the examiner directly i
talked with either the supervisors or the the head of zoning okay so yeah all right
I just received the lease.
I'll take a look at it.
Thank you.
Okay, let's see if there's any.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have...
Oh, I'm sorry.
Excuse me, Katina.
Chair, we have James Soraki in the audience.
And I will allow him to speak.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Is he unmuted?
Let me see.
I don't see him anymore, Chair.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience has comments?
Yes, there's James Soraki again.
Sir, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
James Siraki. It's J -A -M -E -S -S -I -E -R -A -C -K -I.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am.
Please proceed.
I've lived next to the shelter for the past five years, and I am against this expansion, and my reasoning is I believe they lack the necessary staff to manage their current operations, so an expansion would just have a more negative impact on the Brewery Town neighborhood.
I've lived next to the shelter for the past five years.
um there's they already lack the staff to manage the amount of trash that their occupants
uh throw on new kirk street and the surrounding streets
um and they also lack the staff to manage some of their more mentally unstable and
violent occupants um and an example of this was two nights ago i i guess an occupant or
former occupant used a big wooden board to break one of their windows
um and this is not a lone case in the last five years but um so i i'm against the expansion and
okay mr bouvet do you have any questions about that yeah i'm i'm just curious
you said you've been there five years correct yes that is correct and you say that the the
there was an occupant or a former occupant?
Oh, I mean, yes, that's just the most recent...
How do you know they were an occupant?
I said it were...
I don't have actual proof that they were an occupant.
And then when you say the lack of staff,
do you know how many staff are...
are with or employed there now uh no but i mean i i've on okay webpages have you ever met the
any of the staff yes i have talked to the director um janine uh and i have
talked to some of their maintenance staff in the past okay
and and what was their response
to these issues? I did not discuss
these issues when I talked to them. Okay. No further questions. Thank you,
Mr. Chairman. Anyone else in the virtual audience? Thank you for calling us, sir.
Anyone else in the virtual audience? Yes, Chair Doris Aldridge, and I will allow her to speak.
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
yes my name is Doris Aldridge d -o -r -i -s last name a -l -d -r -i -d -g -e
hold on you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
Thank you.
Are you a neighbor?
I share the RCO.
Thank you very much.
Please proceed.
I'm just calling to, I did send in a letter.
We have the letter.
Oh, okay.
I just want, because they didn't show it, and I just want to make sure that my letter
is included with the minutes of this case.
Some of the comments from the community are contained in my letter.
Well, I have that.
okay then that's what mr chair this is hillary i just want to clarify we only we only have the
email with the with the vote um breakdown and the comment but uh the comment from drco but we did
not receive the official letter that detailed the meeting so we do not have that okay i do i did
send in an official letter but i will send it to you again this afternoon thank you but hillary we
have the comments in the letter and the email
am I correct? Well we have
comments that
that the issue
that there were concerns raised at the meeting
in the email but they
said that those comments would be explained
or the concerns would be explained
more in the letter
Thank you
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
No hands here
Planning Commission
good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rm1 multifamily residential
at this location the property was built and has operated as a group living facility
and is an important component of the city's housing safety net
accordingly the planning commission recommends the board grant the special exemption
MI 2023 003
mi 2023 003 510 um sorry um the i did review the lease um mr bouvet it is not it is not signed
um and it has a different address i don't know if this is one of those properties that has
oh it goes by a couple addresses but it has a new kirk street addresses it has a new kirk street
address instead of the address that's on the refusal all right i i probably sent you the wrong
one um well
so i think what we're going to do is we're going to hold this till next week and vote next week
we'll vote on this next wednesday at two o 'clock
okay and whatever you need to get in please get it in darwin okay all right thank you all right
thank you very much so we will vote on 2809 to 13 master street next week at 2 p .m thank you
I'm taking it to a consecutive session.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Number 16, MI 2023 -006 -163 -1303 -05, West Van Angle Street.
Joseph Consul is the attorney.
Letter of support from the Nicetown, Tioga.
Oh, I did this one already.
I'm sorry.
I was just going to say, Mr. Chair, we did that one.
Well, it's kind of early.
that's why i'm surprised that is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 2 p .m case has not been
called i see no hands chair okay so let's take a five minute break and we'll come back and start
the 330 list thank you everyone thank you chair the recording please good afternoon everyone my
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing the 330 ZBA here.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holloman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, James Snell.
Present, Chair.
Thank you.
And also present is Hillary Emerson, our Attorney, and our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkit.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
Video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkit 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 and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question -answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's take a look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number seven, MI 2023 -004 -600, excuse me, 1155 Daily Street.
This case is continued.
number eight mi 2023 004 549 1515 wesley high avenue that case is continued
is there anyone who has comments for those cases or have any other continued which is the report
i see no hands chair up sorry chair the hands going up now okay um the first the first hand
is caller
ending in 3552
will be allowed to speak.
Would you say your name, please?
Yes, this is
Adrian Fernandez.
You've already been sworn.
I didn't get to your case yet.
I'll be coming to that shortly.
I was just calling to ask if it was
mentioned during the continuous period because it's a little confusing because we haven't heard
from the applicant. Okay, I know. Just let me get to the case and you'll hear, okay? All right,
thank you. All right, is there any other requests about continuances? Yes, Chair, I have Devin
Upta will be allowed to speak. Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court
personographer. Hi, here. Devin Ukda, D -E -V -I -N, Ukda, U -Q -D -A -H. Right. Do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Affirm. What case are you calling about?
Case, it is for 3113 North 16th Street. Are you the owner? No, Chair. I am the attorney. I'm
No, Chair. I am the attorney. I'm taking over the case for Jeffrey Young.
I'm taking over the case for
Okay. Well, I'll tell you what. All right. I'll take that now. Right. Okay. So, number two is MI 2022 -001 -943 -3113 North 16th Street.
Yes, Chair.
Council could, all right. This is the fourth listing, Council.
I understand, Chair. I've recently just been appointed to the case due to a change in the attorney being appointed.
Okay, so what I'm going to do is I'm going to continue it, and it's going to be marked must be heard, okay?
Thank you.
All right, so MI 2022 001 -943 -3113 North 16th Street. Cases continued, Mark, must be heard.
Number one, MI 2023 -004 -534 -5312 -18 Ridge Avenue.
Joshua Relbansane is the attorney.
No exhibits first listing.
Chair, I have a hand up with the number ending in 7012.
Shall I allow them to speak?
caller with the number ending in seven zero one two can you unmute please and wait for the chair
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court sonographer
oh the hand went down the number is still up there okay
okay i have joshua rubinstein here okay good i could you could you ask could you say your name
and spell for the court stenographer yes chairman joshua rubinstein attorney for the
applicant j -o -s -h -u -a -r -e -i -b as in boy s -t -e -i -n right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i swear council we don't have any exhibits for this yet
um i understand um they should have been um there was some confusion with regard to the email
address okay so the zba didn't have my correct email address so i have that was not didn't get
anything so i was i can present um an exhibit and put it into the record here today no that's okay
Okay, what we're going to do is we're going to continue the case, and, you know, if you
need any help about what you need, just feel free to give us a call, and the correct address
will be in, we can put that in the chat, right, where you should send it to?
Absolutely, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, sir.
So MI 2023 -004 -534 -5312, 18 Ridge Avenue, that case is continued.
Thank you, counsel. Number four, MI 2023, 004 -605 -4820 Brown Street. Martha Uda Inyang is the owner applicant. No exhibits. This is the first listing.
Miss Martha, if you're in the audience, can you raise your hand, raise your virtual hand, please?
And I see no hands, Chair.
Thank you. So, MI 2023, 004 -605 -4820 Brown Street. That case is continued. Mark must be heard.
Number five, MI 2022, 002 -171, 1359 Cree Street. Jennifer Jordan is the owner applicant.
we have no exhibits this is the fourth listing
there are no hands chair so mi 2022 002 171 1359 cree street this is the fourth listing i vote to
dismiss Robert Everett excuse me I'm sorry
did Jennifer Jordan come on no Robert Everett just raised his hand I wasn't sure if he was involved
he may be from the RC yeah I think he's from uh Fishtown neighbors and maybe they may have been
the RCO for this case he may be able to speak to what happened let's let him come on okay he's
allowed to speak. Hi, sir. Could you
state your name and
spell for the court -stodographer?
Sure. Good afternoon,
Robert. Last name Everett.
E -V -E -R -E -T -T.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you swear for him to tell the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you involved in 1359 Cree Street?
Yes, I represent the Fishtown Neighbors Association Zoning Committee.
And I think Ms. Sunken may have gotten a letter from her about a week and a half ago asking that it be withdrawn, but she didn't send the letter back in officially, I guess.
Okay, so I've just moved that to be dismissed.
That's fine with us.
All right, thank you.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is to dismiss.
James Snell, my vote is to dismiss.
Bushnell Shaheed, my vote is to dismiss.
Thank you.
And number six, MI 2022 -005 -589 -1320 South Capitol Street.
Latin car is the listed applicant.
Bundy 1242 LLC.
No exhibits.
This is the third listing.
no hands chair so mi 2022 005 589 1320 south capitol street i vote to dismiss
thomas holloman my vote is to dismiss james snell my vote is to dismiss
my vote is to dismiss thank you so the our case number three mi 2023
three zero zero four five three three eight thirty two south front street caroline pina
and christopher yeah jacko jacko is are the owner applicants um this is a pro se
caroline pina has been promoted okay
mr chair would you like me to read the refusal into the record
This application is for the erection of a three -story attached structure that includes an interior parking garage located on the same lot as an existing single -family dwelling for use as an accessory dwelling unit.
there is one use refusal an accessory dwelling unit must be located in a detached or semi -detached
structure that already exists whereas the proposed accessory dwelling unit would be located
in an attached structure that does not currently exist thank you carolina pina
uh yes i'm here hi could you state your name and spell please for the courts and art for
Sure. Carolina Pena, that's C -A -R -O -L -I -N -A, last name P -E -N -A.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you.
Good afternoon. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I did.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
can you see my screen okay okay so
the project it's a single family house in a lot that is 100 feet long and it goes from
front street to Howard street there was an existing one -story garage that was demolished
um and the idea is to do a carport on the ground floor and then two stories for an accessory
dwelling could you just get closer to the speaker we're having a hard time hearing
sure can you hear me okay um try again hello that's low um can you still hear me a little
bit go on we'll see if we can get through it go ahead okay so um that's much better there
Okay. So this will be the carport at ground level and then two stories above that. And then this is how it's right now. This is the backyard. This is Howard Street. This is the front with the poster. This is down the street.
so there are more houses that face Howard Street this will not be the only structure
as you see I have another three -story house on my left and then a yard this is the mail -in
to the neighbors this is the support letter from the neighborhood association and lastly this is the
rendering of the proposed project so there will be a garage door with an entrance here
here there will be stairs going up and then this will be the accessory dwelling unit that will be
there will be stairs going up and then this will be the accessory
used for my mom and this is our house that we're renovating here so um where's where's the house
you're renovating uh back here this is the main house and then there is a yard that separates
our house from the new accessory dwelling unit and we'll share the backyard
Okay, so your house is on 833 South Front?
That is correct.
And this place is on the back street?
Correct.
And I'll take any questions.
Okay, questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Okay, questions or comments from Hillary Emerson, our attorney?
One comment briefly, Mr. Chair.
Under the code, accessory dwelling units are not permitted to exceed 800 square feet in area.
The proposal for this project is 900 square feet in area, not including the garage.
So if the board decides to grant this, they would also be granting a variance for the square footage above what is permitted in the code.
I agree.
Thank you.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, I have three hands up so far. The first one is Martha Udo Inyang, and I will allow her to speak.
Well, she, no, she was on Brown Street. I'm sorry.
Okay, sorry. The next one will be Nicole Hoffman.
And they have been allowed to speak.
Hi, Nicole, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Yes, Nicole Hoffman, H -O -F -M -A -N -N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Okay, please proceed.
I would like to just register my vote to oppose this project, mainly for the reason that an accessory dwelling is, by the code, meant to be attached.
In practicality, what this will do for the neighborhood is to turn a one, a single family dwelling into a multi -unit dwelling, which is obviously outside of the code as it is currently written.
and myself and a number of the other neighbors as well,
some of whom I believe are on this call,
oppose the idea of turning this
into a multi -unit dwelling.
We feel that it would degrade the neighborhood.
As you can tell, it's a very small street.
It's a very small neighborhood
that is for the most part made up of single family homes.
Okay, thank you for your call.
Thank you.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, Greg Line is next.
He will be allowed to speak.
Okay, thank you.
Could you state your name, sir, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, can you hear me?
I can.
Yes, thank you.
Greg Line, G -R -E -G, first name, last name is Line, L -I -N -E.
Hold on one minute.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you a neighbor?
Yes. You can actually see our house on Howard Street. We live two houses down in one of the previous pictures that Carolina had shared.
I support Nicole in opposing this. We are concerned that the lot could be subdivided in the future, that this could potentially be rented out to Airbnb.
be. I know this was brought up at the Queen Village Neighbors Association, which I opposed
then as well too, is that garages cannot be built on street frontages. This would be a new garage
that was being built. The other garages on the street, which they're minimal ones, were there
before the existing zoning laws that Queen Village had enacted for the neighborhood that were
already there. So we're very concerned about that. I believe that Ray Evers, whose house is right
next door to where this is going to be built, is also opposed to this as well, too. And I've
spoken to several neighbors on Beck Street, which is the main street where we live, but the side of
our house is on Howard, are opposed to this as well, too. Thank you very much for your call.
Is there anyone else in the audience? Yes, Ray Evers. Ray Evers is allowed to speak.
Yes, Ray Evers.
Ray Evers is allowed to speak.
Mr. Evers, didn't I swear you were earlier today?
Mr. Evers, can you unmute yourself?
Can you hear me now?
Mr. Evers, didn't I swear you were earlier today?
You did, sir.
I'm a neighborhood guy.
Okay, just state your name for the record.
Ray Evers, E -V -E -R -S.
Please proceed.
Sir, yeah, I'm kind of split in reference to what Caroline wants to do, and she has been very attentive to the needs to, you know, what's going on when there's construction in a small neighborhood.
I live at 811 South Howard on the house with the kind of the orange front door.
my my issues are what some of the other folks brought up splitting the deed airbnb uh the
general look of the of the front of the building if it kind of matches some of the frontage of
like kind of the historic neighborhood that it is um the noise from her garage but carolyn has
been attentive to and when there's construction a small neighborhood there's going to be some issues
There has been some issues. She's trying to rectify them as quick as possible. I am kind of split. I believe that people should be able to do what they want on their own property, but it has to be in compliance.
but she has been a good neighbor so far, but I'm not completely, you know, I'm kind of divided
what we have. I just don't want it to be an Airbnb or a rental and some of the noise that
would be produced by a garage door, which is attached to my house, may rattle my house
when it's open and closed. I'm not completely opposed, but I'm not completely for, so I'm not
sure where you put that in everything but being the neighbor that's right next to him i think i
should have you know a big say in what what's next to me but you know she has been good um i'm just
just concerned about the the lot being divided um i know that's not an issue here but adid being
divided and that turning to an airbnb which which was has been brought up my one question is carolyn
how are they is there a front door how are they getting in uh yes there is a front door
here oh okay okay yeah chairman that that's some of my my comments and thanks for taking
that kind of calls we appreciate it is there anyone else in the virtual audience yes george
hoffman okay he's allowed to speak i mr hoffman could you state your name please and spell for
the court stenographer yes it's george hoffman h -o -f -m -a -n -n right do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes mr hoffman are you for or against this
project i am against um mr hoffman mr hoffman could you tell me anything that we haven't already
heard yeah just the concern about um essentially we're turning not only a single family house
into a into two separate structures but i don't know if there's a opportunity in the future to
actually divide the property entirely um it increases density in the neighborhood and um
i i think it's a variance that should not be granted all right thank you mr hoffman
thank you for anyone else in the virtual audience
no more heinz chair planning commission so hold on one minute i'm sorry miss pina you've heard a
lot. Is there anything you want to say in response? Sure. So in terms of
this being out of character of the neighborhood, as you can see, there are more houses right next
to me. There are more houses across the street from this property. These two properties are kind
of odd because they go from street to street. All the other properties, most of their properties
have a house on Front Street
and then a whole separate house
on Howard Street.
So I don't think, in my view,
it's not such, you know,
it's not really out of character
for the neighborhood.
Also, there was an existing garage,
so it's not like I'm adding
a new garage to this property.
Also, Queen Village Association
recommended that a proviso
be added to this uh in terms of no short term no no short -term rentals uh which i'm okay to do
because i'm not interested in doing rvnbs okay well thank you very much thank you very much for
your comments uh planning commission good afternoon this is ron bednar
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon.
This is Ron Bednar.
Her first name is Ron, R -O -N, last name Bednar, B -E -D -N -A -R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, Ron.
This property is indicated for residential use on the city plan.
Based on the grounds of advancing our adopted comprehensive plan for affordable housing objectives, we recommend the request of that to be granted.
You said granted?
Thank you. Mr. Chair, can I just make a couple of quick notes for the benefit of the audience?
First of all, if the property was subdivided in the future, that would require a zoning permit.
And if the parameters, if the lots were not of appropriate size, that would require a variance in order to even subdivide them.
second visitor accommodations is a use that is not permitted in the zoning district rsa 5 which
is what this property is under so if this property was to be used for that use it would
require a zoning variance the board in terms of provisos could say no limited lodging which is
an accessory use which you don't necessarily need to get a permit for um but it's you don't
the board really cannot prohibit a use that's already prohibited at the property without zoning
relief and it's not a use that requires zoning relief that is before the board today so we can't
really consider that thank you hillary uh ron did you you already commented okay so um miss peter
what I'm going to do is we're going to hold the vote
on this. There's been a lot of comments
and I appreciate everybody's comments.
We're going to vote on this next Wednesday at 2pm
after executive session in the
morning. Okay? Very good.
Thank you. All right. Thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not
been called?
And Mr. Chair, the record is
closed on that last case. Thank you.
no hands, Chair. Okay. Thanks
everyone.
Thank you.
Good job, Bill.
I don't know about that, but thank everybody.
Thanks.
Great job, Chair.
Good night, all.
Good night, everybody.
Good night, all.
Good night, everybody.
Good night.