Thank you.
Would you like me to stay on camera or off?
It's up to you, Ms. Deweyra.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Okay, Chair, we have 46 attendees.
You can proceed as you wish.
Morning, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's EBA hearings.
I want to tell everyone we're sorry we're starting a little later, but we have some unfortunate issues arise.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Thomas Holloman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, James Snow, will be joining us for.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunket.
Here's our virtual format.
The advice of proceedings are being recorded.
The 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 address 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 look at our schedule for today. I have a few cases that are going to be continued. Number three, MI 2023-005-998-1813 East Somerset Street. Delbis Tavares is the applicant. We do not have all the exhibits. Is Delbis in the audience?
good morning chair this is Nadia I'll be your co-host today we have a
dots design with their hand up okay they have been allowed to speak
good morning could you state your name please hi this is David Tavares good morning could you spell
your name for the court sonographer d-e-l-b-i-s t-a-b-e-r-a-s right do you swear a firm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes sir we're missing several uh items in
your package okay we also believe uh that this is an llc that applied yeah with the applicant we are
the applicant all right so uh you need an attorney to represent you when you're an llc
oh okay this is my i mean that's okay that's okay so we're going to wind up continuing your case
but you're going to need an attorney and also the rest of your documents have to be turned in okay
i tried to send the photos but i think in one of the savings was the photos exterior interior
photos right yeah we need photos too and the d i think it is yeah okay tax compliance too
and proof of posting okay okay so why don't you do this call the office and they'll explain to
you everything you need to have okay okay so number three mi 2023 005 998 1813 east somerset street
This case is continued. Number four, MI 2023, 006253, 2848 South Tall Street. That case is continued. Number nine, MI 2023, 006038, 615 Alberger Street. That case is continued.
And number 12, MI 2023-005-977-5310 Haverford Avenue, that case is also continued.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience who has comments relative to the cases that have been continued?
I see no hands.
Are there any other requests for continuance?
uh we have dots design with their hands up and a gazelle wilkins
well dot design we've already handled them they've been informed
Well, Dr. Zayn, we've already handled them.
They've been reformed.
Please give me the other person.
Giselle Wilkins has been allowed to speak.
Good morning.
Can you hear me?
Could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Giselle Wilkins, G-I-S-E-L-L-E-W-I-L-K-I-N-S.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
What case are you calling about?
5310 Haberford Avenue.
Let's see here.
You said number 12.
Yeah, that case is continued.
So this is my first time.
When you say continue, what does that mean?
Are you the applicant or just a neighbor?
A neighbor.
So what's going to happen is there'll be another date set for this hearing, and you'll be notified, okay?
I appreciate that.
Thank you very much.
Great.
Is there anyone else in the audience?
No hands.
We have several cases that we do not have exhibits.
Number one, MI 2023, 005-982-6233 Chelwin Avenue.
Prince Dennis is the listed applicant.
We have no exhibits.
This is the first listing.
Chair, we have Ivan Ferreira and Craig Melodosa.
Ivan has been allowed to speak.
good morning sir could you please state your name and spell for the court sonographer
yes my name is ivorne ferreira like i-v um i-v-i-n-e ferreira f-e-r-r-e-i-r-a
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Sir, are you involved in this case?
I am the interpreter on this case.
I'm here to facilitate communication.
My name is Amanda Miranda.
No, no, but is he involved in this case?
He is the owner of the residence in question, yes.
First of all, we have to have an interpreter for him.
This is the first listing.
There's been no RCL meeting.
This case is going to be continued.
It's been continued like three times already.
We've attended this meeting three times before.
Are you the owner too, ma'am?
I am the interpreter.
Are we still talking about, I was going to say, are we still talking about 6233 Shellwind Avenue?
Yeah, ma'am, that's the case I called.
Oh, no, it's 2908 Cornwall Street.
No, we're on Cheltenham Avenue.
Oh, okay.
I just wanted to make sure that we were going to be heard because, like I said, this is the fourth time we're attending the hearing.
When we get to that case, I will make sure.
Mr. Chair, let me get this clarification on that.
So, you know, the property owner in that case is represented by Mr. Sherman Toppin.
That case has already been heard and will be voted this afternoon on the 2 p.m. list.
Do we need to attend this meeting for that?
You can if you'd like, but there's no testimony or anything being taken.
The only thing that is occurring is that the board is voting on the matter.
I'm going to interpret that.
well is it yeah you can explain that to to him but if somebody needs an interpreter we have to
have an official interpreter um for that you know from this for this that the city provides
um so you you're entitled to you know interpret for the property owner but if if he wants to
participate in proceedings going forward then we need a request for an interpreter so that we can
provide one does that make sense yes but for the voting we don't you guys can go ahead with the
voting right right exactly there's no there's no additional participation from any of the parties
in the voting it's just the board voting okay should we just leave the meeting now then yes
because we're not going to vote till 2 p.m
craig maladosa has been allowed to speak
Hi, Craig. Please state your name and spell for the court stenographer.
Craig, C-R-A-I-G, last name Melodosian, M-E-L-I-D-O-S-I-A-N.
Right. Do you swear a friend to tell the truth, told truth, nothing but the truth?
Are you involved in Shellwood Avenue, sir?
Yes, Chair, 6233 Shellwood.
And we had sent out a request to both the applicants.
We had sent out a request to both the applicant and Council President Johnson's office yesterday, a request for continuance.
We've had no communications with the applicant or received a template to notice.
All right. I'm going to call his name again, and then we're going to wind up continuing this.
Prince Dennis, Amazing Heights, LLC.
No hands, Chair.
Thank you.
So MI 2023-005-982-6233 Chelwin Avenue, cases continued, marked must be heard.
Number eight, MI 2023-005-975-2000 East Cambria Street.
Augustina Marina is the listed applicant, and Debra Prez is the listed owner.
No exhibits.
This is the first listing.
I see no hands.
Thank you.
So MI 2023-005-975-2000 East Cambria Street.
Case is continued.
Mark must be heard.
And number 10, MI-2023-005-986-7250 Woodland Avenue. Charles Nana, a two, is the applicant, and Arcu Martin is the listed owner. No exhibits, first listing.
We have Craig Melodosian with their hand up again. They have been allowed to speak.
Craig, you've already been sworn.
Just mention, state your name for the record.
Craig Melodosian.
Please proceed.
This is a similar situation.
We sent out a request to Council President Johnson's office, as well as the email address we have for the applicant,
suggesting that there be a continuance since we received no template team notice, no meeting with them.
uh it was also an issue uh with this and the last application they were both for assembly and
entertainment uh and the uh ellen i had treated them uh two different ways so we wanted to seek
direction from board council as well as to send them back to their plans examiner to get a
clarification as to what was the referral and which was the refusal since they appeared to be
exactly the same. Thank you. Let me see if I can. So, Charles, Nana, a two, or our coup, Martin?
No hands, Chair. So, MI 2023-005-986-7250 Woodland Avenue. Cases continued. Mark must be heard.
We have three add-on cases that we're going to hear at the end of the hearing.
We're going to go to our regular list and start with number seven.
MI 2023-005-923-3603 Spring Garden Street.
Van Vu and Lu Vu are the owner applicants.
The application is for use as a visitor accommodation in an existing structure.
The proposed use visitor accommodation is prohibited in the RM1 zoning district.
Mr. Vu.
good morning sir i'm present hi could you state your name and spell please for the court stenographer
boule spell v-u-l-e okay do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth i do our vice chair has a few questions
good morning sir have you emailed then all the required documents and exhibits that is needed
to proceed with this case five days in advance of the hearing thank you please proceed and share
your screen and i will also uh state there's a recommendation of support from the mantua
civic association please proceed thank you i'm going to set a screen
mr chair did you read the refusal into the record i did okay thank you
Hi. Good morning. And I want to thank you again, Mr. Chairman, the ZBA board for allowing
us an opportunity to present our proposal. My name is Vu Le. My wife and I own this property
since 2017. At that time, our family just moved here from Boston and we decided to put
At that time, our family just moved here from Boston, and we decided to put together our life savings to purchase this home so it can be close to my work.
My wife just had the second baby, so we needed a supplemental income to support our family, and that's when we came across Airbnb platform.
So today I would like to share how we have operated our short-term rentals in the past seven years and hope that the ZBA and the city would give us positive considerations.
Since we were new to Airbnb, my son was just in kindergarten at the time.
We wanted to be selective of whom we would welcome into our home.
In our listing description, we do not shy away from emphasizing that our play is preferentially
offered to those who are young professionals and who are in medical and academic fields,
traveling for related purposes.
And by doing so, we have essentially turned away the bad apples who were just looking
for a cheap place to crash and cause disturbances through the neighborhood.
And this has been our core business model since 2017.
Later on, I'm going to share with you our services and amenities and details, but let
me first show you whom we have served in the past seven years.
So we're located near the corner of 36th and Spring Garden.
So we're just about five minutes away from Presbyterian Hospital, 10, 15 minutes away
from Drexel, as well as 25 minutes away from the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Medicine
Hospital and Children's Hospital.
Our guests come for academic reasons, such as lab visits, attending conferences, attending
classes.
But the majority of our customers are in the medical field as they are either nurses or