And he has been suffering over the last several years, not only at the loss of his son, but he's had some major physical challenges.
uh i last saw him about two weeks ago and there is a saying he's in a better place and i think
he is unfortunately he died at a very young age yes thank you so sharon can i add that mr matty
only was kind enough to call earlier in the day to let me know so that i could let the board know
yeah we appreciate it yeah and i've been i've known him i've seen him for quite a few years so
i just would like to make sure he knows his family knows how we appreciated him
Ron and I would like to add that also
Ron Bednar
Ron Donatucci was a special man
I would too thank you
I just want to say I was lucky enough to practice law
with him for about 25 years
so it's been a wonderful
he's been a wonderful friend to me
so thank you Mr. Chairman
thank you
take care everybody
MI 2020
that's 001198
1725 Monument Street
Mr. Anastasio
I have promoted him to panelists
Good evening Mr. Anastasio
Please identify yourself with a record
Spell your full name
Good evening Mr. Chairman
Members of the board
Vern Anastasio
It's A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O
1315 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, representing the owner of 1725 Monument Street.
Thank you. Swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
And do you agree to waive the reading of its refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Also, have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
proof of tax compliance copy of the refusal referral photos and plans five days prior to
this hearing i do i did i have okay also have you met with the rco and have a letter yes i do
i'm going to share it first please proceed thank you thank you
can you see the letter that i'm sharing here not yet say it again no how's that
Now we have, yes.
Okay, I just wanted to get this out of the way quickly.
We have met with the 32nd Ward RCO.
We entered into a partnership with them pretty early on, and I'll get into the details on that.
We met with them on 19th of October virtually, and they offer a letter of non-opposition,
signed by Judith Robinson, the coordinating RCO representative.
And with that, I will now share my exhibit packet.
Excuse me.
Bear with me for a moment.
Trust you can see that now, right?
Okay, good.
This is a special exception referral. This property at 1725 Monument Street is zoned RM1.
The entire block is RM1. Most of the block are either multi-family dwellings or very large homes
that are rented out to multiple individuals what we're looking to do is instead of chopping the
property up my client would like to maintain the integrity of this old property in addition
the community group would prefer that we not chop it up either even though we could do that as a
matter of right accordingly we are seeking a single room residence for six people six bedrooms
it's a very large property and i'll show you here here's a basement with utilities
here's a basement with utilities we have a front door with a living room
we have a front door with a living room a kitchen
a kitchen a door off the kitchen that takes you to the rear yard for trash
and a bedroom in the rear
we've got the second and third floors with
five additional bedrooms and baths as well
there's proof of posting
there's the property in question
and the interior photos of the property as you can see it's about 100 and some odd years old but
in very good condition with very unique features and my client would just prefer not to divide this
into a triplex and the community would prefer that it not be either there's a rear
we have our proof of mailing our certificate of tax clearance our deed here's the flyer that went
out as again this is a special exception and as such i'd like to go over the provisions of the
partnership that we have with the rco my client has agreed to insert a noise and nuisance clause
and all the leases to install safety lighting and video surveillance for safety place management
contact information on the property's facade my client actually is from the city and this is what
she does for a living she uh she's an investor and she manages her own properties this is this
is all she does this is her full-time job this won't be left to somebody else and we've also
are contributing to the immediate area has a litter removal program for sidewalk litter removal
and we're partnering with the RCO in fully funding that on an annual basis.
And with that, I do believe my client is here.
Elise, could you please raise your hand so you could be promoted?
yeah this is elise carroll hi elise did you hear my rep oh sorry good evening man
good evening man please identify yourself your first and last name my name is elise carroll
e-l-y-s-e-k-a-r-o-l you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes thank you please proceed burn thank you mr chairman uh elise did you hear my presentation
to the board today yes was it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge yes and would you
adopt it as your own testimony if need be yes thank you very much thank you any questions from the
board no no anyone else like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands thank you planning commission bednar city planning this property is
indicated for residential use on the city plan given the overall neighborhood context we have
no objection to the special exception thank you ron mi 2020 that's 001198 1725 monument street my
vote is yes sorry vote uh my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you all have a good
evening stay safe same to you mi 2020-001101 1732 north gratz street
i'm promoting attorney fairlinger
good evening meredith uh good evening please identify yourself with a record and uh you're
still on the oath from earlier look at that i'll let your husband see that you're in trouble
yeah i'm a hungry four and a half year old so if he's a little loud i'm sorry
Meredith Ferlinger, F-E-R-L-E-G-E-R, 1500 Market Street, Suite 3500E.
You said I'm already still under oath from earlier.
Do you agree to waive the reading of his refusal and stipulate to the accuracy?
I agree to waive the reading.
I do not stipulate to the accuracy.
It says the request is for a single room residence.
I would submit it should be for group living and I can go into that a little bit more during the
presentation. Okay have you emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents proof of
ownership proof of tax compliance copy of the refusal or referral photos and plans five days
prior to this hearing? I sure did. Also have you met with the RCO and have a letter? Met with the
I sure did. Also, have you met with the RCO and have a letter?
Met with the RCO. We do have a letter which I will discuss.
Thank you. Please proceed. Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
My name is Meredith Ferliger of Dilworth Paxson. I'm here with a familiar but somewhat different
request for a special exception for student residents at the edge of Temple's campus.
The property before you is located at 1732 North Grash Street and is zoned RM1.
The owners of this particular property are my clients, She Yu Gao and his wife, Ying Wu, who I believe are also on the Zoom today, and I can call on them in a little bit.
Now, the board knows these group living requests well.
However, the request before you today is slightly different.
So let me first start with that before moving into the meat of the argument.
Now, most of the group living cases that I've brought before the board in the past,
we've asked for group living for the entire structure,
much like the case that you just heard immediately before this one.
Typically, we've asked for somewhere between 8 and 12 occupants.
Now, what's different about the request before you today
is that our request only applies to one of the two duplex units.
and I just realized I'm not sharing my screen with you yet. So this request only applies to
one of the two duplex units that are in this existing structure. Now as I'll show you in
the permit history at tab 11a, this structure was built in 2010 as a duplex. Unit 1, which is on the
first floor is not technically before the board today as that unit has three bedrooms with three
occupants. So it is a code compliant unit which you can see in the way that the examiner wrote
the referral here. She notes that the unit contains a quote single family use since there are only
three occupants. Now what is before the board is unit two which occupies the second and third floor
of this structure. Now, unlike unit one, unit two has five bedrooms and five occupants. So the basis
of the request before the board today essentially concerns the two extra occupants of that unit two.
Now, if you refer to some photographs that I will bring up on the screen,
I had my client take some photographs of these bedrooms just so you can get a sense of the scale
of just how large these bedrooms are. So you can see that these bedrooms are
more than capable of supporting one occupant per bedroom. Just to scroll through, you can see these
bedrooms are all very, very large. Now, Sheyu and his wife purchased this property several years ago,
unfortunately unaware that two of the five tenants were not technically permitted.
They contacted me after learning of this through other area landlords.
Now with respect to the application, we received one referral for the proposed group living use.
As has become common, the examiner wrote the referrals for the use as a rooming house or
single room residence. Now if the board refers to Exhibit 10, which contains some sections of the
zoning code, you'll see the differing definitions here. You'll see the definition of a single room
residence, which is defined as a building containing rooms rented as living quarters
without private bathrooms, such as dormitories or rooming houses. Now, alternatively, a general
group living use provides communal kitchen and dining facilities, such as fraternities or group
poems. Now I do just have a quick question for my client um Sheyu if you can hit that raise hand
button. Yes I'm here. Name and address for the record please and please spell it. Yeah uh my name
is Sheyu Guo. It's S-H-E-Y-U. Last name is G-U-O. I'm the owner of that address, 1730.
Excuse me, sir. Sir, do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth? Yes. Thank you. Now, Sheyu, just a very quick question at this point.
Can you confirm that unit two, that you have one lease for all of these occupants? Is that correct?
Yes, it's correct.
Okay, so you don't have five separate leases for five separate bedrooms.
Okay, so you don't have five separate leases for five.
Right.
Okay, thank you.
Just sit tight for a moment.
Now, once again, I did dispute the characterization with the zoning examiner,
but because both of these categories would require a special exception,
the distinction is not necessarily critical.
Now, as is required by Section 303.7E1 of the Zoning Code, 0.1 through 0.3 of the Zoning Code, the proposed group living use meets the definition of a use permitted by special exception in the RM1 Zoning District.
Furthermore, we submit the proposed use will not cause specific detrimental impacts to the neighborhood, beyond that which might normally be expected from the proposed use.
This proposed use has not and will not cause congestion. As mentioned, this property is
located at the edge of Temple's campus just west of the Lyacora Center and is located within walking
distance to several public transit spots. And you can see a sense of the the zoning map here
up on the screen. The existing occupants here travel primarily via foot or bicycle.
Now, continuation of this low-density group living use has not and will not cause overcrowding.
The existing structure is 2,340 square feet and is broken up into two independent living units,
only one of which is before the board. Now, as you can see in the photographs, which I did show
you earlier, unit two, the bedrooms in unit two are extremely large, with the five occupants
sharing two bathrooms. Now furthermore as you can see in your exhibit packet at tab 11b which I'll
bring up the exhibit list so you can get a sense of how many permits are included here. This block
of North Grad Street is made up of other similar uses including two and three family uses. If you
notice nearly every single property on this block is multifamily. Given that six occupants would be
permitted here by right based on the current structural makeup and we are only asking for
eight, the proposed density is well in line with the density of the surrounding neighborhood
and these two additional occupants will not cause overcrowding. Now also given the lot size of 1,102
square feet three units would actually be permitted here by right and I have brought up the section of
the code showing you that calculation. So the by right number of occupants for this lot if broken
up into three units instead of two would be nine people. Now as is often the case we're only here
because the two extra occupants are within the one unit instead of in their own unit. We do assert
the proposed and existing density is well in line with the permissible number of units
under the zoning code and the character of the neighborhood and will therefore not cause
overcrowding. The use will not impair light and air to adjacent properties as no physical
changes are proposed here. Structure is three stories, attached building that is uniform
to the surrounding properties. This particular residence does not have a roof deck. Further
limiting its impact. Now please keep this fact in mind as I will mention it again when I discuss
the RCO meeting. The use will not burden any public facilities as the use is existing
and the existing facilities are capable of supporting the continued use.
The use will not impair or injure adjacent properties which have similar densities to
that proposed. The proposed use will not endanger the public health or safety, nor is it inconsistent
with the comprehensive plan, given the area is zoned RM1 and is specifically contemplated
for multifamily residential use. The use is in keeping with impacts that are normally expected
from the proposed use and is specifically contemplated as an allowed use in the RM1
zoning district. We therefore assert we've met the requirements of section 3037E.1 through
.3 of the code concerning entitlement to a special exception, as is detailed in my memo
of law attached at tab 9. Now, with respects to the community, I know it has been a long
day, but I do need a few minutes to talk about the meeting. We met with Beach Community Services
for this proposal, which is quite frankly the first time they've been assigned for any of these