ZBA Hearing - January 13, 2021

Good morning everyone. My name is Frank DiCicco. I'm the chair of the Zoni Board of Adjustment.

I'll be participating in today's hearing along with our Vice Chair Ms. Carol Tenere,

Board Secretary Confessor Plaza, and Board Members Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell.

Board Administrator Lakeisha Dandy and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta are also in attendance.

For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings,

I'll go through some of the basics what you can expect. First we will be administering oaths to

individual participants prior to their testimony. Second we'd like to advise everyone that this

proceeding is being recorded and that by participating you acknowledge your agreement

to be recorded. Third for anyone participating by phone if you wish to testify you must raise

your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I'll repeat, for anyone

participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine

and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google

267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.

I will repeat, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email

address and the address of the property at issue. I would also like to advise everyone,

please do not attempt to testify in the chat. Any comments should be directed to the board

administrator. In this case, it's Ms. LaKeisha Dandy. Before I begin, just give me a second to

get my notes together here. All right. With that being said, the following cases have been a

request for continuance number seven I believe is the first one on our list

uh two two one seven west tayoga

uh number eight on our list two three two six north park attorney moving party

number nine on our list two four oh eight north 31st street number 10 on our list

2646 North 17th Street

number 11 on our list

2709 West Allegheny Avenue

number 1

I assume that's apartment number 1 or whatever

3400 North 19th Street

4036 Spring Garden

and i believe that is all the requests for continuance that we have as of now does anyone

object to any of those to the request for continuances i just read into the record

if so please raise your hand

chair we have a jason learner with his hand up mr learner you can speak after you unmute yourself

good morning i'm sorry i just raised my hand for that uh the swearing in thing i didn't know

i have to lower it okay sorry individually thank you

anyone object to any of the cases that we've put into the record as being continued please

raise your hand there are no hands up at this time chair thank you at this time i'd like to

ask if anyone is requesting a continuance or withdrawal please raise your hand at this time

there are no hands up at this time chair thank you we'll first go through our add-on list

case number 2020 that's 001127 1614 latona street my vote is yes

my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you uh originally i don't know

if mr knockinson is on originally we said we would vote on 12 22 annon street uh we're going

We're going to do that at 2 o'clock.

to do that at two o'clock we're still reviewing some of the materials that

We're still reviewing some of the materials that were submitted.

So calendar number 2020-002499.

1222 Annan Street.

The board will make a decision at the 2 o'clock, beginning of the 2 o'clock hearing this afternoon.

Sharon, there's a request for reconsideration.

we hear is that for today or

um that you're going to consider at two o'clock

all right i think with that again any hands up for requests for continuance or withdrawals

there's no hands up at this time chair thank you with that we can proceed okay calendar number

Number 0830, 1344 North 5th Street.

I have a Steve Masters with his hand up.

He's been promoted to panelists.

Mr. Masters, you can unmute yourself and begin speaking.

mr masters can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name please

sure good morning mr chair members of the board my name is steve masters m-a-s-t-e-r-s

my law firm is just laws i represent the applicant in this case do you swear or affirm

to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do do you also agree to wave and step

uh not in this case um madam vice chair because we have a revised uh refusal that i want to make

sure it's the correct one in the record uh for this appeal it is okay okay so this is the december

17 2020 revised uh uh refusal with two variances yes it's the one that you submitted with your

exhibit packet including the revised plans that went with it okay then i waive the reading okay

so you have emailed the exhibit packet with all the required documents including proof of ownership

tax compliance refusal or referral photos and or plans of the property five days before this

hearing and you've also met with the rco and have a letter yes that all is correct okay you may begin

Thank you, let me try to share my screen.

Members of the board, we're here on 1344 North 5th Street.

This is a vacant lot on a corner that is zoned for CMX1.

uh the the commercial use was really not compatible uh for the surrounding neighborhood

and so we uh proposed um a residential use um initially uh we were proposing four uh dwelling

units in a in a new construction uh but after meeting with the community we made a number of

different uh changes to the design and we'll walk through those but now our proposal is for

three dwelling units at this corner property. So the refusal is two. One of them is

use refusal because multifamily is not allowed when the surrounding residential zoning is an RSA5.

And we now have a dimensional refusal because the community asked us to set the house back from the front street and that impinged two feet into the rear yard.

So we have a seven foot rear yard setback as opposed to the nine foot that's required by the code.

when we met with the community several times we had good meetings and we

which resulted in a unanimous vote of support by nine attendees at the community meeting

and their letter you know reflects the concerns that they had and how

we have addressed all of their concerns we went down from four to three dwelling units

we addressed the concern about living space in the basement, we changed the setback to

uh address the concern about living space in the basement we changed the setback to

harmonize with the setbacks of the houses in the surrounding lots

uh let's do the drawings here so um

is this a good size for for members of the board to to take a look at

yes yes yes it is all right good um so uh

that's a these are two different views um of the um of the the elevation of the of the drawings we

also um i believe have our architect uh available to answer questions if that's uh uh necessary this

So these are the revised plans that we submitted to LNI in the last few months.

So we originally had our setback up to the curb and we've moved it back.

So now we have a dimensional variance of two feet in this open area.

our changes that we made as i said was the front setback we increased it we decreased the dwelling

units we reduced the rear setback we slightly increased the building height but it's still

inside the the limits of the code we added landscaping we made sure that every unit

had access to outside access through various extra doors.

We located the find where the utility trench was going to be and just added some more landscaping.

Photos. So these are our photos for the zoning poster for today's hearing.

with the refusal

Masters if you can summarize

that would be helpful

sure

so

I would

I would

submit that they that this use is the best use for this lot. It's the one that the community

felt completely in support of. And we are asking the board to approve the use variants

and the dimensional variants in this case.

Do you have a client?

Yes, it's Mr. Mello. Can he raise his hand?

Mr. Mello you've been you can speak now after you unmute yourself okay good morning Mr. Mello

please identify yourself with a record spell your name uh Stephen Mello M-E-L-L-O thank you

Mr. Mello, do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Yes.

Thank you.

Mr. Masters?

Good morning, Mr. Mello.

You've heard my testimony this morning.

Do you agree with it, and do you adopt it as your own?

Yes.

With that, Mr. Chair and members of the board, we rest.

Thank you.

Any questions from the board?

No.

No.

No.

Would anyone else like to testify in this case?

If so, please raise your hand.

There are no hands up at this time, Chair.

Thank you. Planning Commission?

Good morning, Mr. Chairman.

Ian Hegarty, Philadelphia City Planning Commission.

You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.

I do.

Thank you. Please proceed.

mr chair members of the board this property is indicated for commercial mixed use in the

comprehensive plan the proposed variance is consistent with the recommendation in the lower

north district plan to encourage housing near parks and recreation facilities so accordingly

the planning commission has no objection to the granting of this variance thank you very much

MI 2020-0008301344 North 5th Street, my vote is yes.

1344 North 5th Street my vote is yes my vote is yes before I go is there a revised plan

um it is not um Mr. Chair because we went we wrote it to L&I and okay we just want to make

sure yeah thank you Steve thank you sure my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you Carol before you

begin i i failed to mention earlier when i did the continuance list leticia were any of the cases

that i called in to be continued have they already been continued prior to today

here this is sharon saleta i didn't um indicate it for those cases because in many of them it was

also by agreement with the rco that they were okay all right very good thank you uh thank you

uh members of the board um maybe be excused at this point you may have a good day thank you

Thank you, bye-bye.

Calendar number 0373-15018, Teresa Drive.

Anyone here for 15018, Teresa Drive?

please raise your hand. This is Sharon Saleta. This is also a case for which I have no exhibits

and that was previously listed on October 7th. Okay. MI 2020-000373

15018

Teresa Drive

My vote is to dismiss

My vote is to dismiss

Dismiss

Dismiss

Thank you

Count your number 0

2037

1913 West Lehigh Avenue

We have a Jeffrey Young who I'm promoting to panelists.

Thank you.

Mr. Young, you can unmute yourself and speak.

Mr. Young.

mr young

mr mr young i'm sorry yes i was muted uh good morning members of the board uh jeffrey young

can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name please

yes jeffrey young y-o-u-n-g 3900 fort road suite b philadelphia pa 19131 i am the attorney for

the property owner. Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but

the truth? Yes. You also agree to wave and stip? Yes. And have you emailed an exhibit packet with

the required documents, including proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal

or referral, photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing? And have

you met with the RCO and do you have a letter? Yes. So we emailed the exhibit packet. Our packet

that was emailed did not contain a tax clearance. We were not able to obtain one prior to sending

the documents, but we do have a tax clearance now that I can show and will send to the board

after the hearing is over. We have met with the RCO, and we do have a letter of support from the

RCO. Okay, you may proceed. Thank you. Sure.

Good morning, Mr. Board, again, Jeffrey Young here for the representative applicant, DRS

and King Richard Enterprises, LLC, the owner of the property located at 1913 on Wesley

High Avenue.

Here is a copy of our deed to show proof of ownership.

here's a tax clearance i briefly uh mentioned uh we were able to get that tax clearance as

you see it was issued uh today

here is the a copy of the refusal um so we were refused uh for having a proposed use of a child

here is the

care center um on the first floor of the property located at 1913 west lehigh avenue um the current

zoning is rsa5 um so we were refused for that use for not being a residential use um on on the

property. And as you can see here, this is a zoning map of the property. You'll see most of the

properties are this yellow class, which is RSA 5. However, when I get to the pictures, you'll see

that this property does not fit the typical RSA 5 characteristics for properties in this

particular neighborhood. Here are plans for the property. I'll zoom in.

So folks can see a little easier. Essentially, we are proposing to use the basement and first floor as a child care center. And the second floor has two previously approved uses for apartments. So we will just be reconverting the second floor to that apartment use.

uh here so there will be two studios apartments essentially about 500 square feet apiece

here this is a map of the property we'll see we're located on the uh northwest corner of

garnett and sedgley and also across the street is uh lehigh avenue which is a major uh thorough

thorough view in North Philly. Here's pictures of the zoning notifications. We posted up to the

front of the property and also on the side of the property. Here gives you a view looking at

the property. Again, it's situated here on the corner. As you can see, this property has gates

on it. The gates were there when we purchased the property. There are signs on the property. Those

signs are already there when we purchased the property. And as I will dig more into the history

of this particular property to show that it has never been used since 1937 as a residential,

as a 100% residential property. Again, here's another view of the property looking north.

Here is the view of the neighborhood looking west on Lehigh Avenue. As you can see, this is

approximately a half a block west of the property. To the left here in the picture is another

child care center in a property that is zoned RSA 5. So our use is not inconsistent with uses that

are in this particular neighborhood. Again, there's a child care center a half a block down

in an RSA 5 zoned district. Here's a view of the property on the side of our property in the rear

looking south on Garnett Street and again this is a directly across the street from our property

I would want to say southeast of our property there is plenty of parking in this neighborhood

when the parents will be dropping off and picking up their students so there are no houses on this

side of Cesslie Avenue here where folks pull up and will be able to to pick up and do drop-off

again this is across the street from my property is this abandoned uh factory that's been abandoned

pretty much my entire life um and so we're just trying to you know add some life to this corner

um in north philadelphia these pictures here are pictures of a child care center that was actually

already in the facility um this is not current pictures of uh of what we and our design will

look like, but I just wanted to show that this use, I don't know if it was legal or not, but this

use was already there in the center prior to my client's purchasing this property. And, you know,

we had that center, I did not get any complaints from the neighborhood whatsoever. Here is the

notification that I sent out for the community meeting. Proof of mailing.

and here i want to get into a little bit more of the property history um so i'll zoom in um as you

can see uh in 1967 uh this was the first floor was a luncheonette uh with two apartments above

in 1976 it was a variety store with two apartments above

And again, in 1951, it was a two-family unit with a restaurant.

And again, in 1951,

So, again, this property, you know, the history of this property has never been a residential use.

100% residential use, excuse me.

Again, there's another family restaurant and two-family dwelling.

and attaches our, this is our notification letter from the RCO letting us know when our community

meeting was. Again, we had our meeting on Wednesday, December 30th via Zoom, and that

notification was sent out to all RCOs and all neighbors. Here's our letter of support from the

RCO stating, you know, that they support our project. We had our meeting on December 30th,

and we did have some technical issues with via Zoom.

You know, a lot of folks are getting used to this.

However, we were able to have our meeting

and the board of the Allegheny West Civic Association

supported our variance requests.

We also went above and beyond and flyered the block

to have our own meeting, again, with neighbors on the block.

We did have one resident of the block

to participate in this particular meeting as well

and showed her support for our project.

And with that, I'll take any questions.

Thank you, Mr. Young.

Do you have a client with you today?

Yes, Ms. Giovanni Lane should be on.

Lane, please raise your hand.

Mr. Lane, you can speak now.

Hello, this is G.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Spear your last name, please.

Or it's Lane, L-A-N-E.

Thank you.

You're swearing for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

Yes.

Thank you, Mr. Young.

Ms. Lane, have you heard my testimony this morning?

Yes.

And do you agree with the accuracy of my testimony?

Yes.

And do you adopt my testimony as your own?

Yes, I do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

any questions from the board no no would anyone else like to testify in this case if so please

raise your hand chair we have a call-in user

caller you have been you can speak now you have to unmute yourself

hello can you hear me okay yeah good morning please identify yourself please identify yourself

first and last name spell your name for the record yes my name is adrian fernandez my last name is

spelled f-e-r-n-a-n-d-e-z my first name is spelled a-d-r-i-e-n-n-e swanford neighborhood parcels

Association RCO and we are one of the one of the five affected RCOs on this for this address you

swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes please proceed

okay um we sent our letter in which I hope was red and we're asking that there be a second meeting

As Mr. Young reported, only one affected address was at the meeting.

The RCO coordinator did not consult with the five RCOs before making the meeting date of 1230,

which is the eve of New Year's Eve, and the notice was sent out on Christmas Eve 1224, which is unreasonable.

There are, the state says there's 29 daycare centers in the area.

We are saturated with daycare centers.

I understand the youth history that Mr. Young described.

However, even on that block, the state of Pennsylvania,

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania says there's daycare at 1927 Lehigh

and there's one at 1937 Lehigh.

One of them is a new construction that was just built.

And in the immediate area, there's almost 10 daycare centers in, say, like a square of Lehigh, the southern block of Huntington, one block south and one block north, which is Somerset.

But we see no hardship to find other uses that are not duplicated in this area, especially where there are two other daycares on the block and they were not at the meeting.

And so one being a new construction by Deliverance Baptist Church, who is a very good neighbor in terms of land use.

in terms of land use. There's no hardship that has been proven that we need a third daycare center here or this entire building being converted away from residential use.

There's no hardship that has been...

I'm unsure because of the documents whether this applicant is going to put one apartment above because we were sent drawings with two apartments which may have been what existed there before.

We're saying that this is overuse of the variants.

And also, we don't understand, is a special exception already existing at this address,

or does the daycare center that's being proposed need a new special exception?

And have the same question about the apartment.

So are we talking about two different – are we talking about a multifamily variant

and a special exception in this hearing?

um hopefully you have a question it wasn't clear so i can answer that question

could you please address the issue of the residential unit or unit yes so the residential

units were previously approved we are not um refused for the residential units we are refused

for the proposed daycare use um and to um reference miss uh fernandez comments regarding

other daycare centers in this particular neighborhood, the census, looking at census

data shows that there is a growing amount of children in this neighborhood. So having a

center here that with a capacity of about 30 children will not put any harm, cause any

detrimental harm to any of these other daycare centers in the neighborhood. Most of these centers

have wait lists for quality centers, what we are going to do is provide a quality daycare center

at this location. I don't think that we can put, I guess, a cap on the number of quality

educational institutions that our children in North Philly have. And in regards to the community

meeting aspect of it, it is the coordinating RCO's responsibility to coordinate the community

meeting um i sent our request in to the to the uh planning commission um and you know it's the

coordinator's rco's responsibility to get that information out um now just i want to show here

uh members of the board i have emails from the planning commission uh december 2nd i asked them

to you know send me uh who the coordinating rco is um i got a reply back stating it has not been

assigned as of december 2nd if the project still was not assigned um on december 21st i received

this email telling us it was assigned to Allegheny West Civic Association, and we scrambled to try to

put together a community meeting in time, which was put together, and I was given the information

on December 24th. That same day, I sent out notices to all affected RCOs, mailed notices out to all

affected addresses, and we proceeded to have our community meeting on December 30th. I think that

is something that is not of the doing of us or my client. We followed the procedures and rules

that were placed in front of us to move forward.

Thank you.

Anyone else would like to describe?

Hello.

Can I please finish?

Hello.

I was still talking when Mr. Young cut in.

I wasn't finished.

No, no, he didn't cut in.

We asked him to explain the uses of the residential issue that you raised.

Yeah, he did, but he also talked about meeting and other things.

I was not finished.

So to respond to that problem, we are asking for a second meeting

because even as of yesterday, Allegheny West Foundation is still excluding RCOs

and not consulting with RCOs because they sent out emails to selected parties,

most of them not even RCOs, saying they wanted to have a meeting for 1915 Lehigh.

So the RCO, Allegheny West Foundation, they're not following the rules.

does not it doesn't justify the other the other four RCOs being cut out of a meeting to get a

notice. I would suggest, ma'am, that you raise this issue with the Planning Commission and the

RCO. I did that. However, we are still asking for a second meeting, especially where there are two

other daycares on the same block. Just in fairness, just in fairness. All right. Okay. All right.

Anyone else would like to testify in this case?

If so, please raise your hand.

Here we have a Tina Marie Russell.

Ms. Russell, you can unmute yourself and speak.

Good morning, Tina Marie Russell, North Central Philadelphia CDC.

You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I do.

Please proceed.

I'd like to, for me, my issue is that, for our issue is that the notification was not done in order of the legal manner.

I'd like to, for me, my issue is that, for our issue is that

So there wasn't enough time.

It has to be enough time for people to receive the mailings.

So from the 25th to the 30th, especially on holiday time, that was not enough time to assume that people received the mailings.

I know that I could not make it on the 30th.

You know, it was just too close.

We just had a ton of RCO meetings and ZBA hearings, and we had a CDR.

So it was a lot going on.

And I really wanted to be able to enjoy one part of this holiday amidst the chaos of COVID.

So I really wanted to ask for continuance because we really wanted to make sure that we had a full understanding about what's happening in the community because it is in our footprint.

And we know that some of the community members, we can guarantee you, did not get notification.

and so that's where we would stand at we would like to see a continuance thank you anyone else

would like to testify in this case something new and different please there are no hands up at this

time chair thank you planning commission good morning chair members of the board uh this property

is indicated for residential multi-family use recommendation in the comprehensive plan um it's

currently zoned rsa 5 for single family use however um as uh mr young has demonstrated

there is a history of commercial use in this ground floor space and accordingly we do not

object to the granting of this variance thank you mi 2020-0020371913 west lehigh avenue my vote is

yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes good luck thank you thank you

on the next four and five yeah yes calendar number one nine six oh 1915 south 5th street

and calendar number one eight six nine 1917 south 5th street

michael mattione is the attorney

mr mattione you've been promoted to panelist you may speak now

can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name for the stenographer

that's uh michael mattioni m-a-t-t-i-o-n-i it's federal reserve bank building 100 north

independence mall suite 5a northwest philadelphia 19106 do you swear from the tell the whole truth

and nothing but the truth i do and you also agree to waive and stip yes have you emailed an exhibit

packet with the required documents uh proof of ownership for both properties tax compliances

refusals or referrals photos and plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing

and have you met with the rco and do you have letters yes you may proceed thank you good morning

Okay, and these are neighboring properties, 1915 is at the corner of 5th and Hoffman,

1917 is one in from the corner of 5th and Hoffman, and I represent Cliff Lasky, he's

also on the call, he's the developer, and we have a real estate expert, Jonathan Torrey

also available to testify. And as you asked the missionary, we did submit the tax clearance

certificate, which I will bring up for both properties. Okay, and we have tax clearance

certificate for both properties. And the refusals are very simple. There are one refusal for

each property. For 1915, it's to have three residential units where one is permitted,

and for 1917, it's to have two residential units where one is permitted. These are residential

for sale condominium units, and again, it's one variance on each property, as I described.

We met with the RCO in November, on November 10th in the rain at an in-person meeting,

and the RCO letter shows support. It was 13 people in support and one person in opposition

for both projects.

Despite this, and despite this vote, the RCO in their letter takes no position.

Despite this,

and despite this,

I will get to that in a minute.

Here is the site plan for 1915.

As I said, it's three units, and we meet all of the dimensional requirements.

It's 38 feet in height.

we have 20 percent open area we have a rear yard that is 11 and a half feet deep for

1915 we meet it's 37 feet in height the rear yard's 14 feet deep and we have 25

open area because it's not a corner property all the requirements are met in terms of dimensional

relief. The floor plans for both units, and the RCO letter, as I said, it shows the support

of 13 people, eight tenants, and five residents.

I don't know why they made a distinction, and the opposition of one person.

Despite that, the final position by the coordinating RCO is they did not reach agreement, but

we had overwhelming support of the people who came to the meeting that night.

The area that this is in, if you start at 5th and Mifflin and work your way south, the

corner property, that's CMX1. That's a commercial use. But every property after that, 1905, 1907, 1909, 1911, and 1913 are all multifamily and they're all three units. And the property across the street on the corner, 1914 South, 5th Street is also a multifamily structure.

so in this area and this is our lot in this area you have numerous multifamily that's the two lots

the one on the corner is 1915 the one one in is 1917 been vacant for a long time

just showing the site and then the surrounding properties this is 1913 that's a three-unit

multifamily structure. The houses on Hoffman Street are single-family, and I think that's

appropriate because it's a small street, wouldn't really support a multifamily use, and as you can

see, there are both old and new structures on Hoffman Street itself. When you look at the

neighboring properties, though, you have 1913, which is a new three-unit structure, and then

When we go and look to the north, you see a row of all multifamily structures, and then you have the quarter commercial unit at 5th and Mifflin, and again, multifamily structures even farther north from there.

So the properties in this area are generally multifamily on 5th Street.

There are many vacant lots in this area.

The vacant lots cause problems such as illegal dumping and crime.

The variance is necessary for the development of these lots, especially in light of the large number of vacant lots in the area.

Each property includes an enclosed trash area in the rear yards for the properties as well.

Again, it fits in with the context.

The properties have been vacant for many years.

We did have the overwhelming support of attendees at the RCO meeting.

The developer will testify that it's not feasible to develop the single-family residences.

And this situation was not created by the applicant.

The variances will allow for the development of these properties in conformity with the surrounding properties.

It's in harmony with the zoning code by creating quality housing, meets the goal of the zoning

code to revitalize vacant properties.

It benefits surrounding properties by developing properties.

It benefits the surrounding commercial units by bringing density to the area and helping

out the stores such as the Stewart Fifth and Mifflin.

The area will benefit by removing these vacant properties and the trash and the dumping and other problems that have happened on these vacant properties in the neighborhood.

And they will not alter the character.

It's 100% residential, surrounded by 100% residential.

And the variances are the minimum necessary.

And the variances are the minimum necessary.

And again, these properties do comply with all.

And again, these properties do comply with all of the requirements in terms of height and bulk and open area and things like that.