I'm going to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you. Ms. Pritzker?
Yep. Tyler, have you heard my testimony today?
and do you believe it to be true and accurate
and do you adopt it as your own?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Any questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Would anyone else like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
I see no further hands, Mr. Chair.
It's a very handsome-looking building.
Planning Commissioner.
Sorry, Chairman.
i believe that pamela andrews from the rco has her hand raised oh sorry about that sorry about
it pamela miss andrews please spell your full name and i'll swear you in pamela andrews a-n-d-r-e-w-s
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do thank you i'm sorry i passed over you please proceed
I'm here because I just wanted to support Rachel and the developers in this project.
Westphalden Saunders Park met with them for three times.
The near neighbors had an opportunity to give input into the design.
um and we feel that we got we have a good result and we also entered into a community benefit
agreement which we feel um will help support some of the beautification projects that are going on
in the community so i just came to basically lend my support to the project thank you so much
thank you anyone else to testify in this case please raise your hand
no further answer thank you planning commission
thank you chairman de chico ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission
members of the board in 2015 the zoning map was amended in this area from rm1 to rsa5 in
from RM1 to RSA 5 in accordance with the recommendations from the comprehensive plan.
in accord with recommendations from the comprehensive plan.
However, as Ms. Pritzker has demonstrated, this lot is unusually shaped and constrained.
The dimensional variances correspond to the lot shape and don't conflict with the purpose and
spirit of the zoning code and the use variances are reasonable. City Planning Commission recommends
that the board grant the variance thank you mi 2021-003 396 31-33 north 43rd street
my vote is yes there are no revised plans correct um uh zamir there are no revised plans correct
go on my vote is yes carol tennari my vote is yes thomas my vote is yes
thank you uh case number 16 mi 2021-003397
3932-36
Mount Vernon Street
Alan Nockenson is the
Attorney of Record
Mantua Civic Association
sent a letter of opposition
and Councilwoman
Gauthier's office is
expressing opposition as well
Mr. Nockenson or
Ms. Amazon
yes i did okay alan please identify yourself you're still under oath from earlier
alan a-l-a-n last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m-s-o-n
1-2-3 south broad street suite 1600 philadelphia pa 19109
do you swear truth and nothing but the truth i do do you agree to waive the reading of the
refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of
ownership tax compliance refuse a copy of the refusal and refer or referral photos under plans
of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and do
you have a letter uh yes the only thing i would object to is the uh characterization of that the
council member uh opposes the project our understanding is that they were going to
support the project so we have a some correspondence so i i haven't seen anything
from the council member i knew that they were going to send something in writing so i haven't
seen that excuse me mr novinson i received an email from mr goodman i'll double check but i
believe that um he reported that the councilwoman was in opposition i will check that now yeah i
also got that email that's why i was like a little bit surprised maybe mr goodman might
be testifying so let's proceed okay all right um let me uh share my screen if i may
we love screens sure there you go um and that's why i'm in front of most of the time nowadays
i know um it's the covid world uh i'm here to present 3932 uh dash 36 mount vernon street
i am representing kumas homes in this endeavor uh it's a little bit of a drawn-out history
uh and we'll explain why so that's why i'm a little bit surprised that there's any opposition
uh for the community yep excuse me i'm sorry mr notkinson i just checked that and it was my mistake
um the council mr goodman sent in three recommendations the recommendation from
for mount burning was in support okay great i appreciate it i was like a little i was a little
my mistake i'm glad you caught it thank you no worries yes that makes a huge difference uh
I know because the board respects the council member's opinion.
All right.
So we have a table of contents, notice of refusal, correspondence from Mantua Civic Association.
It was a close vote, not a well-attended event, essentially it was a three to five vote.
We have correspondence from Andrew Goodman.
I don't know if it's the same correspondence that Ms. Saleta has, but we had some indication
from Mr. Goodman yesterday afternoon that the council member would support this project
because of the unique circumstances, I have a purchase and development agreement.
So you'll see a little background when we go through it.
My client, Kumas Homes, originally owned a property on North 41st Street in the same area of Philadelphia.
Unbeknownst to us, a portion of that property touched a community garden.
We were requested by the council member at the time, as well as the community, to facilitate a sale of that property.
uh to to facilitate um a sale of that property which we did with the city of philadelphia it
which we did with the
took us over a year working with the community as well as the council member at the time
to identify a property that made an equal property that made sense that's where we landed on 39 32-36
mount vernon street um you'll see the agreement of sale it indicates that we're seeking 14 units
exactly the amount of units we're seeking today, indicate that there would be 11 two-bedroom units,
three one-bedroom units. So between the council member and acquiring their property through the
land bank at the request of a portion of West Philadelphia, we endeavored on this project to
get a variance. So we were a little bit taken aback when Mantua Safe Association did not support
this project but i also think that we didn't expect you know such a low turnout so that's
where we are with that we have maps of the area photographs of the property plans and drawings
and you'll see that again we can go through extensively the drawings but the drawings that
are part of our purchase and development agreements are simply you know or have similar floor plans
or exactly floor plans to the ones that are in our architectural plans and drawings that we submitted
to the L&I as well as to the ZBA. We have our hearing notice or community meeting notice
showing proof that we actually mailed notice to the community and for whatever reason members of
the community did not attend this meeting in great numbers. Our application for appeal or
deeds of property showing that a subsidiary of Kumas Homes owns the property and that's IRA
Development and MECOS Enterprises. We have our Certificate of Tax Clearance. And we have a
representative from Kumas Homes who will dot my testimony. All right, so our notice of refusal,
this is an RSA 5 property. It's located not far off from a commercial corridor on Lancaster Avenue.
It's near public transportation. Both Lancaster has the 40 bus and the 10 trolley, and it's right
off of Haverford as well where the 43 bus goes. It's a rather large lot. It's over 4,000 square
foot lot. So when we identified a lot in consultation with the council member at the
time, this was a lot that made most sense under all circumstances to put a 14-unit building there.
We received the council member's support and we entered into the agreement with the city through
the land bank. And you'll see that. But we're an RSA 5 property. We have three refusals. First is
the multifamily use, obviously. But, you know, again, this was fleshed out in 2019 before we
agreed to do the land swap in order to accommodate the fact that we owned a portion or a portion of
our previously owned property touched upon a community garden. The second refusal is the open
area where 25 percent is required and 17.7 percent is proposed again something that was fleshed out
in 2019 at the time of the land swap and finally in terms of the bicycle parking five is required
zero is proposed we would have obviously no objection to putting parking bicycle parking
in the rear because you'll see that we have you know extensive amount of open area so if the board
assets. We will obviously put it in the rear of their property where the garbage is also stored
in this extensive rear yard. But again, we're near public
transportation. We have two major lines, one on Lancaster
Avenue, one on Haverford. So our letter
again, the Mantra Pacific Association, they don't
take an independent determination of whether they support a
project or oppose a project.
um we you know there were you know eight well nine people attended the meeting which is not a
great attendance for mantua typically one person abstained which i would believe would be myself
because i can't vote as a counsel to the applicant uh and then there were two people in support one
in non-opposition so i treat that as three in non-opposition and then five opposed so it was
a close vote and unfortunately mantua civic association cannot take a position based on
my understanding of how they take their positions other than opposition but we did have extensive
communications with them even before the uh the uh community meeting uh and we were prepared and
we are still prepared to enter into a community benefits agreement with man choice of association
um this is an email that i received from andrew german we just made a copy of it but like again
And you'll see the subject line is the address of the property, and it says community benefits agreement.
He says, and Mr. Grumman stated, though, I don't think we'll be able to be there live.
And Mr. Goodman stated, though I don't think we'll be able to be there live, our office will submit supportive testimony to ZBA staff in writing for 3932-36 Mount Vernon Street.
So that's the extent of the communication I had with Mr. Goodman yesterday.
I haven't seen what they've sent, but it sounds like they are in support.
The purchase and sale agreement with the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation, I would just point the Board's attention to improvements, like the definition of improvements means 14 rental housing units consisting of 11 two-bedroom, two-bath units, and three one-bedroom, one-bath units, as more specifically set forth in the plans attached as Exhibit C.
And then we have Exhibit C, where, again, as part of this land swap, we were required to show how we were going to construct this building.
But you'll see, here are the floor plans for this building.
Here's the elevations.
Again, matches to what we were proposing in front of this EVA today.
Next thing is the map of the area.
Again, we're a sliver of RSA 5, but it's not uncommon to have RM1 or CMX 2 within close proximity.
And again, if you can see where we're in the neighborhood, we're basically a block away from Haverford, a block and a half away from Lancaster.
Our goal was to support the commercial corridor.
We identified a property, which was a rather large RSA 5 property that can fit the type of use that we're requesting.
and that density will support the commercial corridor in that part of town.
Photographs of the property, again, it's a large vacant lot.
As you can see right behind us, you can see an inkling of another large apartment building there.
Our building is only 14 units, though.
Pictures to the right of the property on Mount Vernon Street.
Pictures to the left of the property on Mount Vernon Street.
And then just our plans and drawings.
I mean, what we're trying to do is typical, you know, mix between brick and stone facades.
There are five units on the first floor and lower level, and then the second,
third, and fourth floors each have three units in them. As you can see, I just want to go back,
But as you can see, we have a rather large backyard where you have access from front to back for all the units.
Garbage will be stored in the rear.
We can put the bicycle parking, if necessary, in the rear as well.
But again, there's a ton of public transportation in close proximity.
Examples of the typical Kumas homes.
Kumas Homes is a well-known builder, property owner, landlord, as well as property manager in the Philadelphia region.
They've been in business for approximately 15 years.
So not only do they construct these properties, but they hold them, a lot of them, and they also manage these properties.
So the person who is in the neighborhood is not only going to see someone who's constructing something, but is actually going to keep it throughout its life cycle when it opens up for business.
But examples of just the interiors, again, hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, a lot of different minor amenities that one would expect of a newly constructed residential apartment building.
And then the meeting notice, again, it was November 4th, 2021 at 5.30 p.m., so I don't
know if it was because there was an early time, but we really didn't have a well-attended
meeting. 149 addresses were notified at this meeting, and only a sliver attended that.
And then our application for appeal, we have the deed and our tax clearance certificate.
it. With that being said, I would like my client, Mr. Eze, to raise his hand.
Mr. Eze, it's been a lot to speak.
Good morning, sir. Please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
Yes, it's Ifa'i Chukwu
I-F-E-A-N-Y-I-C-H-U-K-W-U
Last name's E-Z-E
We're affirming to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. Knackinson
Mr. Easy, you heard everything I stated today
Yes. And is it true and correct? Correct. And do you adopt this in your own testimony? Yes. And specifically, you were involved with the land swap with the city at the time regarding this property, right? Correct. And everything I stated about the floor plans and the configuration of the project is true and correct? Correct. And you've relied on this land swap to build exactly what we're proposing today. Is that correct? Yes.
And is it true and correct?
Correct
And do you adopt this in your own testimony?
all right thank you thank you any questions from the board no mr chairman and mr chairman
would anyone else like to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
mr chair a jihad ali has their hand raised i will allow them to speak at this time thank you
mr ali please spell your first and last name and i'll swear you in my name is jihad j-i-h-a-d-a-l-i
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, sir. Please proceed.
I attended the meeting on the Zoom meeting on behalf of Jimmy Allen, who is a strong community activist in that area.
He was in the hospital. He couldn't attend. He's a member of Mount Airy Civic Association.