ZBA Hearing - January 13, 2021

Good afternoon. Yes, I did. This is for a change of zoning back to a search. I sent everything weeks ago.

Okay.

You say you sent it. Did you email it or send it by post?

I sent it by email. Yes.

All right.

so there's been no correspondence with the councilwoman's office I assume

is that correct no I honestly didn't know I needed to

this like I said it was a church at one time and the only thing we're trying to we're renting

the church the building and we were just trying to get it back as a church

so mr folks we or miss uh then miss dixon did you attend to have a rco meeting

did you meet with the rco well i know we we talked over email

but no we did not have a meeting all right well that that's a requirement so we're going to have

to continue your case and i would suggest you reach out to councilwoman sanchez's office speak

to mr folks okay thank you mr folks yes ma'am yes you give her your contact information please

i will do so thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you any other requests for

contingencies or withdrawals. Here we have someone by the name of Felicia Rhodes.

Ms. Rhodes, you can unmute yourself and speak.

Good evening, ma'am. Please identify yourself with the records by your full name.

Ms. Rhodes, you still seem to be muted.

yeah let's go to the first let's go to the first case and before you go begin carol

uh question for sharon page number four 2319 north second did you receive any exhibits

i did receive exhibits but i um wrote to the applicant explaining that the owner is an llc

and requires an attorney all right we'll see if they're here but looking at the appellant

generally we don't have that kind of uh cooperation all right let's go with number two

on our list calendar number 0978 1600 north 52nd street and i do not have exhibits for this one

is there anyone here for 1600 north 52nd street

madam vice chair do you know who the attorney is

we don't believe that they have an attorney i emailed the applicant to let them know that they

needed one but I didn't get any confirmation that they actually had one. I'm sorry am I

confusing two cases I'm sorry. All we have is the appellant is James O. Okay you would have more

Sharon. And Lakeisha was this case already continued? It was it was previously listed

for 10-07. I'm sorry, Lakeisha, I didn't mean to break in on you. No, you're fine. Thank you.

And no one is here on this case now? No. Mr. Lambert has, I have a Michael Lambert.

I don't know if he's here for this case or not. Mr. Lambert, are you here for 1600 North 52nd

Street. If not, lower your hand until your case gets called.

Can you? Hello? Yes. Can you hear me, sir? Yes. Oh, my goodness. Thank you. I apologize.

You know, I'm still working on my technology skills. We were trying to let the court know

or the panel know, good afternoon, that we're on 2319 North 2nd Street. Okay, well, we're

working on 1600 north 52nd street we were i just want to let the board know we raised our hand

when you were okay we'll get to your case we'll get so much sir and ma'am all right anyone here

Anyone here for 1600 North 52nd Street? There are no hands up at this time, Chair.

for 1600 north 52nd street there are no hands up at the

Q MI 2020-000978, 1600 North 52nd Street. My vote is to dismiss. My vote is to dismiss.

Dismiss. Now we're on number three. Calendar number 0449, 2218 North Marshall Street.

um excuse me we did that number four number four calendar number zero two five five 2319 north

second street michael lambert you can speak hi good afternoon folks good afternoon mr lambert

please identify yourself for the record. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairperson. My name is Michael

Lambert. I am here with regards to 2319 North 2nd Street. My client is also here.

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

Okay. Mr. Lambert. Do you swear and affirm, sir?

He was promoted to panelists. He's going to pop back in as a panelist.

Oh.

Thanks.

Mr. Lambert?

Mr. Lambert, you still seem to be muted.

Now you're unmuted.

Video, video.

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

I certainly do.

And do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?

Yes, I do.

Have you emailed the exhibit packet with all the required documents, proof of ownership, tax compliance,

a copy of the refusal and 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, we have. Everything's correct. Yes.

Please proceed.

Thank you so much.

Good afternoon, folks.

Again, my name is Michael Lambert.

We're here with regards to 2319 North 2nd Street.

We're here because we're asking this board to approve our request for variance to convert this matter to a three-family unit building.

It was zoned as a three-unit family in the 1940s.

My client has recently purchased the property, believing, of course, that the house was already zoned as a three-family unit.

However, when he went to get the renter's license, that's when, of course, he found out that it wasn't.

We do have a copy of the plan.

We also have, if I may share my screen.

So first, I'd like to start with a copy of the plans, and we'll slowly go through them.

So this is the basement.

The basement has, when he purchased the property, it was already subdivided with three utilities

for the electricity.

um the second there's nothing in the basement obviously but just the um utility stuff on the

first floor that is a one bedroom apartment and as the panel will see um there's a kitchen

air bathroom stove and a bedroom as well as a family unit on the second floor is a two-bedroom

apartment and as the panel see there's a kitchen bathroom two bedrooms and of course a corridor

going to the third floor that's more of an efficiency as you'll see there's a one bedroom

in the back and there's a family area in the front where there's a bathroom a kitchen and

somewhat of a dining room area now this is the plan that shows each individual floor

what it looks like and that's basically it with regards to the plans i can now if i may share

I'll share the photographs with you.

Okay, that's the front of the building.

That's the kitchen area on the first floor.

Kitchen. Bathroom.

Basement.

check control slowly that's

Second floor, slowly, that's the steps going upstairs, of course.

Second floor, kitchen area on the second floor.

And that's outside.

I think we went a little fast.

That's in the back.

Now, what I wanted to share with the board, or the panel rather, is that this is in West

Kensington.

And in that area, as the board is well aware, there is a shortage of housing.

And that said, there's also a shortage of affordable housing.

What my client has done when he purchases property is to provide three units for families to be able to afford without having to break the bank to pay their rent.

um many of the properties at least 60 or 7 percent of the properties on that block and in that

neighborhood are multi-family units as you'll see from some of the pictures before there are

some commercial units in the or commercial properties in the area as well as some abandoned

properties and my client is one of those uh uh uh landlords who is trying to make the properties

uh to be more affordable for people to be able to move in without as i said breaking the

bank um i could show the panel or the documents if the panel wish but i'm not sure if i should

stop here i just asked lambert is that the first floor you're showing yes sir my client is here

go ahead your honor you go to the front of the building again go back to the front please

come and help us no this is my client here he's waving hello um that's the front of the building

All right.

I guess he's got some other, he's got some other structural work to complete on this building,

doesn't he? As far as I know, he does not have any structural work that needs to be done.

Sir, do you have any structural work to do?

We see the ingress in the front. We have it in the plans, though.

about the second and third floor the facade oh in terms of painting well we're gonna have all

of that looks like looks like uh that's cement all right and give me a shot again of the rear

of the building bear with me sir that's it so he will do the stucco he'll paint it okay finish it

None of these wires are live, as far as I know.

These are not, the front ones are not live.

No, not in the back.

None of, my client just reminded me that none of these wires are live.

There are wires that will be removed once the stucco is applied and painted.

Is there going to be a window next to that door on the first floor?

There's a window on the right-hand side.

is one second there's no window that's going to be here all all the structures are structural

there's no structural uh uh changes in terms of any windows or anything else

that's going to be added beyond what we see

any questions from the board no no

thank you anyone else would like to testify in this case please raise your hand

there are no hands up at this time chair thank you mr folks just put his hand up

well mr folks you're still under oath please identify yourself good i've seen again council

chairman chico zba board sloan folks office councilman maria can you know sanchez from

508 city hall um the applicants having met with the rco and receiving a letter of support

our office offers no opposition to this variance request.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Planning Commission.

This is Ron Bednar, City Planning.

While this property is currently indicated

for commercial mixed use on the city plan,

we have no objection to the granting

of a residential use variance.

thank you ron mi 2020 000 255 2319 north 2nd street my vote is yes with the proviso the

cco must be obtained within nine months my vote is no

my vote is yes with proviso yes with proviso

So before, thank you, before you go forward, Carol, we got to go back to the 3836 Haverford

Avenue.

Yes.

that was on the two o'clock list yeah let me just see uh sharon just sent us something

That was on the two o'clock list.

Yeah, I'm trying to find it.

okay i got it revised plans okay so mi 2020 that's zero zero three one four four

three eight three six haberford avenue my vote is yes with the proviso pilot house for mechanical

access only my vote is yes for proviso yes for proviso my vote is no

number six carol yep calendar number zero six nine three forty seven thirty three leeper street

there are no heads at this time chair anyone here for labor street l-e-i-p-e-r 4733

um the attorney is ryan boland yeah just looking at bella's name

is this has this already been continued

if there are other cases could i try to reach mr bowen okay let's go to number eight

okay calendar number 0376 64 63 malvern avenue

that's henry clinton mr clinton can you put your name and address on the record can you hear me

Yes, I can. Can you hear me?

Yes. Name and address on the record. Spell your last name, please.

Sure. Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N, Queen Memorial Building, 1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia PA, 19146.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

I do.

Do you also agree to waive and stip?

I do.

And have you submitted the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax clearance, copy of the 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. Yes, I do.

Okay. You may proceed.

Thank you, Vice Chair. Can I share my screen?

Sure, you may.

Is that visible? Do I need to enlarge it?

Oh, no, it's great.

Okay.

This is a property.

It's 6463 Malvern Avenue.

It's currently a two-family dwelling, and it was a two-family dwelling with a doctor's office in the basement.

So instead of having a doctor's office in the basement, we're asking that that be residential rather than commercial.

And I'll walk you through the presentation.

this is my evidence binder consisting of exhibits aa through a11 appearance statement

the refusal is pretty straightforward the proposed use is multi-family dwelling but it's always been

multi-family dwelling and we have a rental license for a two-family but the request is to make the

former doctor's office into a residence which resulted in this refusal

we have a letter of support from the 34th ward republican and 34th democratic ward

the vote was six to zero in favor uh ryan i'm trying to reach you because the board just called

your case and um you aren't here could you please call me as soon as ms letta sharon you're not

muted. Sharon, you're not muted. Mr. Clinton, on the left of your screen, we have all of your

icons. You might want to get rid of that stuff. I have all my icons? Yeah, there's everything about

excuse me, I think he would like you to just maximize your window.

All right, let me go back now. I lost it.

can we see that now yeah okay we still have a lot of stuff on the left but

all right let me get rid of that Tom thank you Mr. Chairman

any better do you see the square um between the minus sign and the x on the top right

yes if you there you go there you go thank you thank you you were my technical consultant i