And would you say that it was true and correct?
And if given the opportunity, would you adopt it as your own?
Thank you.
So with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions that the board may have.
Thank you.
Any questions from the board?
Anyone else would like to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
there are no hands up at this time chair planning commission good afternoon david
fecto city planning commission mr chairman members of the board these two properties
are indicated for residential single family use in the city's comprehensive plan there appear to
be three new multi-family structures on this block we do not oppose legalizing two existing duplexes
Thank you very much. MI 2020-002576, 2011 North Woodstock, and MI 2020-002577, 2034 North
Woodstock. My vote is yes on both. My vote is yes on both. Yes to both. Yes to both. Yes
Thank you, Ms. Anadine.
Thank you.
Calendar number 1577-2301-13, North 8th Street.
Carol, is that Mr. Clinton's case?
That is Mr. Clinton's case.
Mr. Clinton, you've been promoted to panelists.
Hi, Mr. Clinton. Can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Yes, I can. Henry Clinton, 1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia PA, 19146, the Queen Memorial Building.
Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to wave and skip?
have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required documents proof of ownership
max compliance refusal referral photos and 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 i have okay you may proceed
thank you miss daniels can i share my screen please yes
is this large enough to see mr chairman uh yes and i understand it's a letter of support
all right correct thank you
this is the presentation binder or evidence binder which contains table of contents exhibits aa to
A10, current statement, this project is a large vacant lot, used to be used for automobile
vacant lot. It used to be used for automobile storage and repairs. It's a
storage and repairs.
blend of CMX2 and i2. On the phone with me is the representative of the
applicant, Joseph Gitterman, as well as the architect of record, Rustin Olwer. You
can see the zoning designation is CMX2 and i2. You see the duration of the
somewhat odd-looking lot, you'll see it's about 50-50 split between the two, and that split has
resulted in some refusals. Refusals are dimensional, height 38 feet, as well as we're requesting 39
dwelling units, and in the CMX2 zone, only 25 would be permitted, but as I said, we're in a blended
zoning district area of CMX2 and I2. We did meet with both the 34th Republican Ward and the 34th,
excuse me, 37th Ward, and they looked at the project. In fact, we had two or three meetings,
and this is a letter of support. There's also discussions with the community group
about a community benefits agreement, and that has been resolved, I believe, to the satisfaction
of the community group. This is a summary sheet indicating that the vote was 9-0 in favor of the
project. So here is the site plan, well, aerial view, excuse me, of the plot. This is Dolphin
Street, A Street, and the street that runs on an angle here is Germantown Avenue. So the idea is
to have residential in this area on the larger piece and the little area that's jotting out to
or jotting out to Germantown Avenue. The first floor is going to be commercial because Germantown
Avenue is a commercial corridor and above the commercial unit on the first floor will be
additional apartments. The commercial space is about 1,200 square feet or so.
We do have some changes to the plans that have to do with the facade and the egress wells.
There's actually two pages if the board looks kindly upon this proposal.
We're including some photographs of the lot. You can see it's pretty much an eyesore right now.
There's an abandoned trailer and a number of abandoned automobiles on the lot.
So the project is to have commercial in this area, as well as, excuse me, to have residential in this area, as well as residential in this area above the commercial space.
There is some parking coming off of Dolphin Street and park behind the building.
Rustin, if you want to break in at any time, you certainly can. I don't mean to hog your presentation, but I'll start.
Can I walk through the plans quickly? So this is just the basement, Hank, if you can keep going.
So utilities and extending the commercial space down to the basement.
This is the ground floor plan where you can see the parking underneath the building off one curb cut at the corner there.
uh entry lobby uh to the north as well as like a community room um both to the tenants and
accessible to the community uh elevator building interior trash storage um and uh yeah if you zoom
out so there you can see the commercial space uh to the north it's a lot longer than that it's it's
cut um didn't fit on the page but it's about i think 1900 square feet it's about 20 feet wide
the width of the entire lot. You can go to the next slide. You have your typical
upper floor plans. Mixture of one bed and two bedroom units. Same floor plan at second through
fourth floors. Roof plan. No roof deck. And then here you can see the facades of the building.
8th Street is on the left-hand side of the page
and the southern elevation
of Dolphin Street is on the right-hand side of the page.
The rear of the building you can see to the left there and then on the far right
is the elevation of Germantown Avenue, continuous storefront
at the ground floor. Next thing.
Just the artist's rendering of looking at the building
of looking north
at the corner of 8th and Dauphin.
And I think that's it, Hank,
other than there's any drawings.
So in summary,
this is basically
A 39-unit residential apartment complex with some commercial and parking, as well as bike spaces.
a 39-unit residential
apartment complex
with some...
We're going to have six studio apartments, 26 one-bedroom and four two-bedroom apartments.
As Rustin pointed out, there's amenity space for not only residents of the building, but also community groups, not just one community group, but multiple community groups.
There's also an elevator and trash storage within the building.
we think this is a unique physical situation uh not only the lot uh but also the size of the lot
the blend of the cmx2 and the i2 which was have resulted in some refusals which otherwise would
not be if it was all cmx2 we believe that the building fits in with the character of the
neighborhood it's in harmony with the code and certainly in harmony with what the the community
group want it and support it. So with that, I would like to unmute Mr. Gitterman and ask him
if he could adopt my testimony and also entertain any questions from the board.
Excuse me, Mr. Gitterman. Please identify yourself with a record. Spell your last name.
Mr. Gitterman you can speak after you'll meet yourself yes how are you everybody
hello Mr. Gitterman yes I think the chairman wants to swear you in
Mr. Gitterman, please spell your last name.
My first name is Joseph, J-O-S-E-P-H, and my last name is Gitterman, G-I-T-E-R-M-I-N.
And you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
Please proceed.
Mr. Gitterman, have you heard my testimony as well as the testimony of Mr. Oler?
Yes, I did.
If you had the opportunity to testify, would you adopt our testimony as your own and as true and correct?
yes i do thank you mr government with that mr chairman i rest and ask that all my exhibits be
admitted into evidence noted any questions from the board 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 you planning commission good afternoon david fecto
city planning commission mr chairman members of the board this property is zoned commercial mixed
use and medium industrial but the comprehensive plan recommends residential multi-family
the proposed height and density are not out of scale with the remaining industrial buildings
on adjacent blocks we do not oppose granting these variances very much mi2020-001577
7-230-13 North 8th Street. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. Excuse me, this is Sharon Saleta.
It's with revised plans, two pages. With revised plan, two pages approved today.
My vote is yes with proviso. Yes with proviso. Yes with proviso. Yes with proviso. Thank you.
thank you very much thank you yes 12 13 14 15 and 16. calendar number 3 1 4 4 38 36 Haverford
Avenue calendar number 2 5 6 5 39 20 Haverford Avenue calendar number 2 5 7 9 39 30
calendar number 2564-3918 Haverford Avenue and calendar number 3143-3926 Haverford Avenue.
The attorney is Joe Consul.
Mr. Consul, you've been promoted to panelists.
Mr. Consul, can you put your name and address on the record, please?
I can, but first a point, number 2020-2943, 813 North 40th Street.
That's part of this package.
It's the same developer, and it's a block away, and the same RCO.
And where?
It's number 19.
Number 19 on our list.
Calendar number 2943, 813 North 40th Street.
Name and address, please, and spell your last name.
Joseph Consul, that's C-O-N-S-O-L-E, Consul Madison, LLP, that is 1 West 3rd Street, Suite 204, Media, Pennsylvania, 19063.
Joseph Consul.
That's C-O-N-S-O-L-E, Consul.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive and stip?
and have you emailed an exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax clearance 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 i did i have and i do yes we we sent you everything
we've met with them and we have a letter of support okay thank you you may proceed
Good afternoon, board. Joe Consul here on six properties, four of which are on the 3900 block of Haverford Avenue. That's 3918-3920-3926 and 3930, one of which is on the 3800 block, one block away, 3836 Haverford Avenue, and one of which is on 813 North 40th Street.
which is just around the corner from the other five properties.
With me somewhere out there in Zoom land is a client representative of the owner, German Yakubov.
He'll speak in a minute.
These six properties are all zoned RM1.
We have four identical refusals for the four properties on Haverford Avenue.
Those are density refusals. We are allotted four units, but are seeking six units. These are all existing rehabs in properties that a client has owned and has been renting out.
uh that's these guys here the 3836 Haverford Avenue is an empty lot it is a new construction
uh the refusals for 3836 is for density and for a side yard refusal and then um
finally we have 813 north 40th street that is also an empty lot and that is new construction
the refusal again for density and also includes an open air open area refusal a rear yard depth
refusal and a height of roof deck refusal I can start with the the various layouts like I said
the four properties on the 3900 block and I'm going to have my client walk through the plans
when I, when I call him are, uh, all six, uh, six units each between four and 500 square feet for
each unit. Um, the, I think it'll make sense for him to walk through the plans. When I get there,
I'll go through the rest of my stuff.
The property at 3836 is seven units, and the property at 813 North 40th is six units.
We met with the Mantua Civic Association on December 21st.
We received the letter of support, support of the civic, and near-unanimous support of the neighbors.
We had 25 neighbors in attendance, and it was 21 to 4 and a 22 to 1 vote.
They chunked together the Haverford properties and the North 40th Street property as a separate letter.
Regarding each refusal, first off, the Haverford blocks that we're building on
is kind of a continuing project and vision of my client.
He's been building on that property.
It was previously populated with empty lot,
boarded up buildings, and other multifamily units.
It's not primarily a single family block, zoned RM1.
There is a 35-unit building on the block,
two 12-unit buildings, seven-unit building,
which was approved by the ZBA two years ago.
My client has been collecting these properties for the last 13 years.
They are utilized now as college rentals, not single-family buildings.
Based on experience and the community feedback, my client saw a need for smaller units, not
larger rentals for college students as they are now.
My client believes this is in line with what the area is looking for, and he believes...
My client believes this is in line with what the area is looking for, and he believes rehabilitation on this block of Haverford will be a boon for the city and will create market and below market rate rentals to people in the area that need housing.
I believe someone spoke earlier today on the two o'clock docket about this area and the direction
it's moving. Additionally, this will allow my client to engage private trash companies to keep
his properties clear of trash. And again, he'll speak to that when I call him in a minute.
um regarding the property specifically of 813 north 40th this is a uh a block that is almost
entirely empty lots there's only one building on the block um the other properties being developed
there coincidentally are actually um being developed by my client uh almost exactly a year
ago we received approvals for the same variances we're seeking today um for the properties located
at 801, 803, 807, 811, and 815 North 41st Street. So my client is doing the exact thing
we're seeking approval of on the rest of the block. These are properties that he has in
the interim acquired on this block to continue his efforts. There's density variances for
all the properties. This density variance is for the community benefit in order to make the
units affordable and below market rate. My client's committing to making a third of the units