jna real estate investors i have my table of contents up on the screen for refusal
appeal project information form at page one area zoning maps at page nine deeds at 11 tax
clearance at 17. zoning letter at 18 rco letter 23 photos at 25 plans at 35. so initially members
of the board we received a lot of refusals this is page one this is page two essentially what
were seeking to build was a six-unit building in an RSA 3 zone. Currently there is an empty lot.
After a significant number of meetings and discussions with Holmesburg Civic and their
body at large, we revised this project several times and ultimately landed on a three-unit proposal
which changed the front of the property as well to set it back a bit and add a porch to be in
line with neighboring properties we are proposing those three units as I said
there's a significant number of multifamily units both two and three in
the immediate area as well as a number of apartment complexes in the area
furthermore we're by public transit such that the multifamily use for this
property wouldn't be unduly burdensome for this project so members of the
board here now have the zoning map showing we are at the intersection of
ron and cottage street this rm2 this is all multi-family apartments and cottage street
kind of ends here abruptly and then there's a significant drop to get to this property so this
street doesn't actually go through so this is our subject property we have a number of single
family homes and garage directly behind us and you can see then from the overhead shot via google
Now on page 10, where the street kind of ends, we have this condo developed next door by the creek.
This is a deed for the property.
Leo, could we see that Google shot?
I don't think you put that up.
Let me know if you guys can see it.
It seems like there might be a little bit of a block.
It's a little tough.
It seems like my audio might be ahead of my video now due to whatever my internet issue is.
My apologies.
I do have the deed at page 11. I have tax clearance at page 17. From page 18 rather, here it is. This is specifically the notice after we had done the revised plan to reduce an overall number of units from 6 to 3.
On page 22 is our certificate of mailing.
We have received a letter from Holmesburg Civic on February 27th. Ultimately they were opposed
to this project. It was their position that this area was not fit for multi-family housing. However,
as specifically noted, and I'll show you in pictures as well, there's a number of duplex
and triplex units in the immediate area as well as a number of apartment buildings
this is the site as taken from google our subject site is right here it is the vacant parcel with
the gray car parked directly in front of it this is cottage as you as we discussed earlier you can
see the where the road dead ends the other single family properties on cottage and the property off
to the right here directly across from cottage trust is a multi-family property i believe it's
three units but here's our notifications that we're up more shots of the lot itself as i said
we took a lot of design cues from this house next door when doing a redesign from an initial
proposal of six units so you'll see that we kind of match the setback the porch area and the
um the design more overall these classical homes rather than something more modern
looking down wrong that's looking across the street this is the structure here specifically
multi-family i think there are two or three pardon three or four mailboxes out front
floor tenant, and the porch will be used by the second floor tenant as well as the yard.
This is the area lot. We can see where it's set back here. We can see the media, the adjacent
area behind us, and the relatively sizable backyard is 16 feet 4 inches. Note that we
do have the detached side yard, so we're about just over 5 feet from our neighboring structure.
That's our elevation. We are going up three stories, but again, we're not exceeding the
38-foot height. To the height of our
roof, pardon me, of our pilot
house, it's only 39.
I'm sorry,
Mr. Chair.
Mr. Chair, pardon me.
Proceed, Mr. Kelly.
I'm sorry.
I'm getting an echo again.
There is an echo.
Tanya, is that coming from Leo's?
I'm not sure.
I'm not getting an echo.
but it might be the back it might be his background but what i could what i could
recommend mr kelly is you can get the video and be able to use the video as necessary for
the information you need is that okay that's fine and one other thing i appear on the screen twice
when i came back in there's two court reporter yeah i see that no problems
that could be the issue yeah that's no problem do you have another another device
that you didn't log out of check that that could be the issue no i just have the one okay
all right proceed leo okay so proceed yeah i'm just hoping everybody can still see my screen at
this point yes we see it okay great so our basement is on unfinished this is unit one
we're going to have one two bedrooms one in the front one in the back decent sized dining
room to the middle living room to the front going up the stairs we then get into the next
unit which has a similar layout same thing with the third three unit although that allows
us to go all the way up to the roof deck on the third story which is here there's no roof deck
in the rear no roof back in the front focus back um that's ultimately our presentation today i'm
happy to answer any questions you might have at this time mr mobile do you want your testimony
adopted i would mr free us if you're on the line would you please raise your hand so we can have
you adopt my testimony mr frees has been allowed to speak
could you state your name and spell it please for the court reporter
spell your name please j-o-h-n-n-y
and your last name Mr. Frias
F-R-I-A-S
did you get that Mr. Kelly
yes chair
um pages that would need to be stamped it'll be about two to me um but again that's if the board
grants this case and i under and i see that there is there are other um individuals who are waiting
to testify all right questions or comments from the virtual audience mr chair i have a hand raised
from mr david blugos i will not speak this time with permission thank you sir could you state
your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter. Hello, can you hear me? Yes, I can.
State your name and spell for the court reporter, please. My name is David DeLugos, D-A-V-I-D,
last name D-L-U-G-O-S-Z. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? Yes. Proceed, sir. Yes. Hi, my name is David DeLugos. I'm the zoning
chair for the Holmesworth Civic Association, as the attorney mentioned that we met with them
twice in the past about their proposal, you know, and we met with them, they gave a presentation,
and the association voted to oppose even the modified plan. Primarily, you know, I want to
start by saying that first and foremost, this used to be occupied by a single family house
that was in disrepair and was eventually demolished. The current owner bought it from
sheriff's sale, you know, and the existing zoning was in place. And so for someone to say that,
you know, you buy a property, you know, the zoning of the property, and you can't build a buy right
development, certainly does not seem to meet the burden of a hardship, in my view, because
he knew what he was getting into when he bought the property. Secondly, that with regard to the
character of the street, that even though there are some houses that house multiple families,
those are houses that either were grandfathered in or are occupied by multifamily illegally.
I'm sure that if you were to go property by property, some may have, you know, some may have two family rental licenses, but certainly anything more than that will probably not have any kind of variance for, you know, for multifamily and anything.
So, again, just because the character of the street may have a smattering of multifamily doesn't mean it's what the community wants or what is even legally there.
You know, if you look at at like a street view of the other thing, they're all single family, either they're either twins or single family detached homes and not multifamily.
With regard, you know, lastly, I'll say is that we did, you know, in the spirit of cooperation, you know, that we did talk to them.
A lot of the membership thought that because of the corner property, that the RCO would be okay with a two-family dwelling because that would be more in line with what's going on there.
And our Civic has been accommodating to corner properties being two-family dwellings.
The community also had concerns about parking because currently parking is at a premium at this location, both on the side street and especially on Rohn Street, which is a state highway.
and thereby we ask that you just deny these variances requests outright
and have them resubmit a new plan with either a two-family plan
or a two-family proposal or a single-family.
I mean, I take any questions.
Thank you very much for calling in.
We appreciate your input.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
of a separate document with the revised plans reflecting what was presented today along with
the proviso plans for him. Okay. Very good, Hillary. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
Mulvihill. Have a good day. All right. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the 930 meeting
whose case has not been called?
Mr. David Orfanides has his hand raised.
I can allow him to speak at this time, sir.
Maybe I missed this case.
Mr. Orfanides.
This is number 13, Mr. Chair.
That's right.
I saw the, I had it in yellow.
I'm sorry.
Mr. Orfanides.
Yes, sir.
Could you state your name
and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, sir.
This is Tanya. I'm sorry. Can we just pause and promote Mr. Orphanides to panelists? Thank you, sir.
That has been taken care of.
So it's MI 2021, 004-592-5901 Latona Street. David Orphanides. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Certainly. My name is David Orphanides. The last name is spelled O-R-P-H-A-N-I-D-E-S.
Right.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Are we ready to go today with this, sir?
Yes, sir.
Could you identify your client and their relationship to the property?
Certainly.
My client is 2750 Wharton ST period property management comma LLC.
The owner of the property and here on behalf of the ownership LLC is Maria King, who's
the sole member of the LLC.
Okay, our board secretary has a few questions.
Keish?
Yeah, I'm here.
Somebody muted me.
Good morning, counsel.
Good morning, sir.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, sir.
The only property is one of two properties that are zoned residential, but the only one, again, that at the kind of at this five point intersection, but the only one that fronts on three streets.
In addition, it's the only one that has a longstanding history of always having been used as a non-residential for non-residential purposes, both when it was zoned for commercial and then since it was remapped to residential.
And we'll go through that in a minute.
But as the property is owned RSA 5 and as an RSA 5 property, the proposed use, which is a takeout restaurant, is not permitted.
My client wants to open up an ice cream and water ice stand because she does not have any seating proposed inside the building.
It's a pretty small building. And you'll see in the first floor of the ground floor plan that there's not a ton of room inside where there could be seating.
but the existing structure that she wants to utilize, that rather than being a prepared food
shop, which would also require a variance from the zoning board, is characterized as a takeout
restaurant. So there's no indoor seating, no bathrooms indoors, and all the food is served on
disposable wear. Here's an aerial image of the intersection of the three streets. Here to the
right, you can see our property. I've clouded it as a triangle, but again, there's a portion here
where, and you'll see, I can show you in the deed where it actually fronts on three lots.
We have the Blanche Nixon Public Library located across the street right here that I'm circling
with my cursor. There are residential properties extending on the opposite side of Baltimore Avenue
from the opposite caddy corner from us and extending away.
There's the KPP West Philadelphia Preparatory Middle School
and the Motivation High School located on the opposite corner of Baltimore and 59th.
And then you'll see there's a commercial property located across the street from us
at Latona in Baltimore that's been used as a daycare.
Extending to the west of us are Prop Residential Single Families
and extending to the west of the commercial properties that are located here at the corner
of Latona and Baltimore Avenue. Those are also residential properties utilized for single family
use. And just to kind of, here's a closer up view of our property showing the existing structure
and then the open areas around it. There are two existing curb cuts that we plan on filling in with
the proposal. They are related to a prior use of the property for auto upholstery in a private
garage dating back to the 60s. And that was also utilized when the property was most recently used
as and as and for auto detailing, which was by variance granted by the zoning board in 09. That
I'll show you. Here's some additional aerials. You can see the high school and middle school,
middle school and high school, up here to the top right. Residences to the far upper left,
the Blanche Nixon Public Library across the street from us.
Here are the commercial properties that are located on the opposite side of Latona,
between Baltimore and Latona. Again, this property is zoned RSA 5. You'll see in the zoning archives,
It has a history of being zoning or mapped for commercial use sometime between 88 when there was a zoning permit for a vacant building and the property was indicated as being zoned C1.
Prior to that, it had been zoned C2 and ACOM.
There's an alley behind those properties that extends away from South 59th Street.
Elevation then rises up to Cobbs Creek Parkway, where you have a mix of residences and commercial uses.
Across the street, here's the Blanche Nixon Public Library.
Views up and down Baltimore Avenue.
And here's the high school and middle school, middle school and high school.
multi-family buildings located down Baltimore Avenue just past the middle school and the high
school and then the residences on our side of Baltimore Avenue that then convert into commercial