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?