doctors working night shift at the hospitals.
take uh also they they are medical students who come to philadelphia to take
one of the most important boy exams which happen to take place in the city
so as i have mentioned briefly in the introduction we advertised that our place
is for guests traveling for professional and academic purposes and that we constantly strive
to serve these core needs.
Please note that these are not the typical glamorous
staycation Airbnb where people come to host loud parties,
blast music, and cause disturbance throughout the neighborhood
because prompting the police to come multiple times,
like even a week.
In contrast, our professional guests are very courteous.
They are only here for meetings, to study for exams,
and they need a really, really quiet place.
Our guests also mainly utilize public transportation,
and therefore we do not contribute to the issue of lacking parking space in the neighborhood.
Additionally, my guests typically do not have time to go to the supermarket to buy groceries and cook meals.
In fact, they would much rather enjoy dining out at a nearby local restaurant,
And therefore, we produce very little trash after they departed.
Those are some of the concerns that the neighborhood had at the local meeting.
And now we have full support of the local community.
Besides being a homeowner, I'm also a scientist during my day job.
And I wanted to make my home not always feel comfortable, but also an environmental and eco-friendly place.
For example, we utilize a technology to monitor and prevent water leak.
In 2019, a colleague introduced us to City Solarize Fielding Program, and we now have
solar panels on the roof.
We also use high-quality linens that can last longer to minimize waste, and they are made
from materials that are faster to dry.
We use high-efficiency laundry detergent to help cut down water and energy usage for laundry.
And most recently, we replaced our water heater with a tankless water heater, which only heat up hot water on demand.
And this has helped us saving as much as 20% on natural gases.
These are our commitments to sustainable living.
And actually, some of these improvements have been suggested by our former customers who use science, engineering, and technology in their daily works.
I also want to very quickly share with you a few testimonials from former guests.
I also want to very quickly share with you a few testimonials from former
Dr. Eric is a pediatrician, and he has stayed with us many, many months during COVID-19
to help with the training of a startup clinic nearby.
And because he works in pediatric respiratory field, he was actually the one that suggests
us to have an indoor air quality system for the health benefits of our guests.
Lauren is a nurse working night shift at HUB, and she stays with us regularly because of her work schedule.
She likes our place because we implement the quiet hours, which ensure all guests remain quiet during the nighttime between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
Katya and Nabilak, they are medical, they're foreign, I need to say, medical graduates who come to Philadelphia to take abort exams.
They came early for a week to get acclimated to the weather, the culture.
They met each other at my place.
They practiced with each other for a vote.
We have been proud and blessed to serve this community since 2017, and we continue to foster communication with them even after they have left our place.
They usually share their experiences with their friends and colleagues, so we mainly get new customers by word of mouth.
Please note that these medical graduates will go on to be board certified and coming back to the region and even our local hospitals in Philadelphia to serve as our medical providers.
If you recently need to see a doctor, you might have felt frustrated for having to wait a week or two at least before there is an opening to see you.
And this is because the U.S. has been experiencing a physician shortage problem, and the latest number is close to 40,000 shortage.
And this number is expected to quadruple in the next 10 years.
These gaps can only be filled by bringing in foreign medical graduates who have been very well trained in their home country, and often they are already practicing physicians.
We have proudly provided over 10,000 of those accommodations in the past seven years to these medical graduates, and we believe that we play a small part in helping the U.S. to alleviate this physician shortage in the coming years.
In the end, I want to thank Mr. Chair, the Z Bayer board, the CD, and I hope for positive consideration from you.
I'm happy to answer any questions.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands. Planning Commission. Thank you Chair Bergman and good morning David Fecteau
F-E-C-T-E-A-U with the City Planning Commission. Do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth? Yes sir I do. Please proceed. Thank you sir. Chairman and
board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential multi-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 Planning Commission
recommends that the Board deny the proposed use variance for visitor accommodations. Thank you.
MI 2023-005-923-3603 Spring Garden Street. I vote yes for temporary variance. That expires 3-13-27.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, sir. You have your votes.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Jim Snell on the call now.
Thank you, Jim. We're going to go to number 16.
MI 2023-005-963-816 South A Street.
Quinton Campbell and Reena Schenker are the owner applicants.
This application is for the addition of a roof deck above the rear accessory garage structure, roof deck accessory to existing single-family living, whereas the proposed roof deck would be located above the accessory garage structure, which is prohibited.
Mr. Campbell.
Mr. Campbell.
Hi there. Can you hear me okay?
I can. Could you? Good. Great.
So, do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And please state your name and spell for the court stenographer.
My name is spelled Quentin Campbell, Q-U-I-N-T-O-N, last name Campbell, C-A-M-P-B-E-L-O,
and I do swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Thank you. Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Okay. Good morning. Good morning, sir. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits? Yes. Yes, I have. All right. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen. All right. Okay.
all right can everybody see that okay we can okay so um my wife and i we're the uh property owners
at 816 south 8th street um we have hopes of constructing a deck on our property um but due
to some limitations that i'll get into as i present um we we felt as though the the most
realistic way to achieve this is by doing it on our rear accessory garage the image on the screen
now is sort of a schematic of our of our property sort of a site plan this is the view of our house
facing west from the front of the house you can see that the garage is in the rear it is detached
from the home but that was the intended goal of where we'd like to hopefully construct our deck
if if approved um trying to just get an idea of want to show us some photos first yeah that's
what i'm trying to do the screen is a little tricky um here okay so this is um sort of a view
from mildred front facing east um this is the yeah the property from the rear of the lot um this is
the garage itself it's hard to i guess see but this is a view from a second floor window um
that provides a view from our back patio uh these are this is the view of the garage in question
um if you look on the right of this picture where those potted plants are our hopeful
access would be a spiral staircase in that corner um any questions about these photos or anything
about the plan so far so i know you i i noticed the bellavissa neighbors are not in opposition
as well as a council person but they also talked about providing a two-foot setback from the rear
lot line yes yeah so we we've we've been going through um multiple some issues and you know
putting our plans together. I had an engineer put together plans and I requested that they
include setbacks. They mentioned that they were questionable as whether they needed it because it
is not the front part of the lot. I requested that we include setbacks. However, they didn't
in the initial plans that they provided. I personally am more than amenable in having
plans modified to include a setback, regardless of whatever that setback would be recommended.
But, yeah, because the plans did not include a setback, that was one caveat that the Bella Vista Neighborhood Association included in their recommendation just because the initial plans did not include that.
Personally, I am more than happy to, you know, make sure there's a setback that's in alignment with regulations and zoning.
Hillary, can we handle that with a proviso?
Yes, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Campbell, what we would just need to do is we would need a revised site plan. I think these are building plans and we don't stamp building plans because we don't handle things at the building permit stage.
So, yes, we need a revised site plan that would show the setback and then a proviso plans form to accompany it that explains the change that's been made since the site plan was reviewed by L&I.
so um and you can you know we'll finish up today if the board approves you can send that information
to me afterwards and it can be stamped and it will be included as part of the notice of decision
okay so just so i understand um on the screen now is is a draft of a site plan that i had put together
um yeah would it would we need a modification to this plan here exactly yes what what the plan i
I assume this is the one that was reviewed by L&I,
whatever the site plan that was reviewed by L&I,
that's the one that you would want to update.
So I believe this was the one that was,
I think I looked it up.
I believe this was the one that they saw.
Okay, yeah.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
no mr chairman questions or comments additional comments from our attorney hillary emerson
Questions or comments, additional comments?
we handled everything thank you mr okay thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands planning commission thank you chairman and good morning david fecto with the
city planning commission chair and commissioners the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the residential single-family zoning at this location.
The proposed roof deck built above a garage
will not injure the use of adjacent properties.
The City Planning Commission recommends
that the board grant the proposed roof deck variance.
Thank you.
So MI 2023-005-963-816 South H Street,
I vote yes with proviso,
two-foot setback from rear property line.
I'm sorry. Hold on one second. Let's we'll revote this with one page of revised plans and that will include the setback.
OK. Yes. The revised plans, they'll be stamped today, March 13th.
So. With proviso revised plans stamped 31324.
And one page. And one page.
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 sir you have your votes
all right thank you
so we're going to go to the top of our list here we're going to go to number two
MI-2023-005-930-9456 Woodbridge Road.
Lee Elsie is the attorney for the owner.
There was a meeting held 12-2023.
We do not have a RCO letter at this point.
There are five form letters of support from neighbors.
Lee Elsie is in as a panelist.
Thank you.
Good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Lee Elsie, L-E-E-E-L-S-E-Y.
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?
I apologize.
I was just jumping in from a phone call.
We are on 9456 Woodbridge, correct?
My client is Mr. Jonathan O.
He is the owner of the property.
And our voice chair has a few questions.
Good morning, counsel.
Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal or stipulate to exact proceed?
Have you emailed them all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case
five days in advance of this hearing. I did. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you. All right. Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the board. We are at 9456 Woodbridge
Road. I'll be doing double duty today both as architect and legal counsel. As you can see
existing structure located here three stories formerly with a garage in the front. No longer
a garage. This property was purchased in 2020 in July of 2020 and there was a violation on the
property in June of 2023 for related to the conversion of this lower garage area to living
area. Now that was done by the previous owner and there is actually a zoning application from March
of 2020 which was not completed. So this is a legalization of an as-built living area. Now
I'll take you real quick to the refusal. I might jump around just a little bit on this one.
We're in an RTA1 zoning district, and the duplex use, which we are proposing, is existing and by right.
But in order to convert the garage into living space, we eliminated an interior parking space, and there is parking required in this zone.
in this zone so we have proposed surface parking in front of the building and there is a required
So we have proposed surface parking in front of the building.
front yard so our refusal is for the proposed surface parking which is located in the required
front yard so let me within the packet you'll find all of these exhibits we are missing
a letter from the RCO we did meet with the RCO we have not received a letter although
So we were told after the meeting that we did receive support.
So I'll address that later on.
Let me pull up some aerials.