We're seeking to incorporate the basement into the existing living quarters for this.
It's still a single family.
but there's no intention to have it as a multi-family it's basically converting the
basement into living space for the existing family that is there but Mr. Feynman based on
the pictures that we're seeing it's a complete separate dwelling unit there's separate living
space bedroom bathroom and kitchen well what I didn't show in the photos is there's a stairway
that leads up to the first floor and the kitchen and dining area on the and living areas on the
first floor the the son doesn't have access to that because he's in the wheelchair right so it's
a separate dwelling unit in the basement for him that is what's being created and that is what
needs to be requested even though the stairwell still is there there's nothing to stop the
stairwell from being closed off so so mr fineman what what i think you need to do is to reapply
you know change what you're asking for and then i think you go back to the rco and explain the
situation of what it is and then then you come back okay is that right hillary yes he needs to
um request from the board permission to amend the application and then go back to l and i and
ask them to amend it to add that additional use of two f2 family dwelling
well so we give him permission to do that hillary we yes we would we would grant permission to do
that but he needs to make that request in writing to the board okay thank you i will i will take
care uh addressing that and doing that promptly and i greatly appreciate the um the courtesies
okay all right hillary thank you yes thank you thank you mr feyman thank you very much
Okay. Have a good day. So we bounced around a little bit today.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been heard?
I see no handshare. Okay, everybody. She, everyone at two o'clock. Thank you.
All right. Good job, all.
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon ZBA hearings.
With me is Ismail Shahid, our board secretary.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thomas Hollman, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And James Snell, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board attorney is here, Hillary Emerson, and also Lakeisha Dandy, our ZBA hearing
supervisor. Before we begin, here's our virtual format. Be advised the proceedings are being
recorded. By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. The video will be
available by contacting tonyasunkett at phila.gov. For the benefit of our court stenographer,
we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying. If you're
participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your hand and star six
to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email, the address of
the property in question. And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not
for comments or testimony. Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunket.
So let's look at continuances for this afternoon. Number five, MI 2022, 001-761-3518 G Street.
That case is continued.
And case number nine, MI 2022-002-208-744-North Forty Street, that case is also continued.
Is there anyone in the audience who has a comment relative to those two cases, five and nine?
I see no hands, Chair.
Is there any other requests for continuances for this afternoon's list?
I see no hands, Chair.
Well, number eight, we have no exhibits.
No exhibits. And that's case number MI-2022-001-374-4812 Knox Street. Joanne McCauley is the owner.
And that's case number M-I-T-E.
I see no hands, Chair.
So that case is continued. MI-2022-001-374-4812 Knox Street. The case is continued.
And number two is a withdrawal. That's MI-2022-001-681-3878 Lancaster Avenue. That case is
withdrawn. Any other withdrawals? I see no hands, Chair. We're going to go to our add-on list.
Number one, MI 2022-003-170-2300 North 18th Street.
There will be a result.
Excuse me.
Sorry.
I just realized there is a typo in the listing.
It should say October 26th, not 28th.
Thank you.
Thank you.
No problem.
Sorry about that.
resumption there will be a resumption hearing on
the 26th yes Wednesday the 26th in two weeks okay okay there will be a resumption hearing on
Wednesday October 26th at 2 p.m. for the limited purpose of taking testimony from a representative
of the 16th Democratic Board and they have responses from the attorney. And number two,
MI 2022, 001-057-3251 Fox Street. This case will be continued for two weeks.
And let's go to our regular list. Mr. Chair, with the last one, can we just announce the
vote on the case is now scheduled for October 26th at 2 p.m. Thank you.
Okay, so
okay, hold on a minute.
okay so this this case the vote will be taken october 26 at 2 p.m is that right
yes for 3251 fox street yes 3251 fox street thank you
And number one on our regular list, MI 2022-001-676-3618 Sears Street.
Leo Mulvihill is the attorney.
We do have a letter, Hillary.
We have not received the letter yet.
My understanding from the RCO is that it will be a letter of support, but we have not received it.
Okay. Thank you. Mr. Mulvihill.
Good afternoon, Chairman, members of the board. Hopefully, I don't have the Zoom issues that I had this morning.
I don't think you do, but just could you raise your volume a little bit, Leo, please?
Certainly. I'll do my best. I'll edit that right now.
all right you've already been sworn in could you identify your client in relationship to the
property certainly my client is the owner of the property it's emble's property in philadelphia
say that one more time leo i'm sorry we're still having issues hearing me chairman
man yeah uh we're gonna back out and get back in i'll okay thank you
Jim Overhill?
he's not back in yet chair okay
all right let's wait just a couple more minutes in the moment
Okay, so why don't we move on to a case that we believe is ready, okay?
And we'll take Leo at the end.
MI 2022-003-408-1030 Loney Street.
Clementa Amazon is the attorney.
A letter of support from the Fox Chase Homeowners Association.
Ms. Amazon is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Chairman, members of the board.
Hi, counsel, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Of course, Clementa Amazon, C-L-E-M-E-N-T-A, last name is A-M-A-Z-A-N.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Of course. My client is the owner of the property, and his name is Anthony Samarco.
Okay, thank you. Ishmael, are you going to pick it up?
Sure, I can share, no problem.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Good afternoon.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
did you email all the exhibits and documents as required such as the proof of ownership tax
clearance copy of the refusal or referral pictures or drones of the property five days
in advance to this hearing and did you meet with the rco and do you have a letter
yes and we do have a letter of support okay thank you so much proceed and share your screen
of course thank you
Can everyone see my screen?
We're fine.
Perfect.
So again, my name is Clemente Amazon, and today I will be representing the owner of
1030 Loney Street.
During my presentation, I will go through the refusal, the letter of support that we
have from the community, the letter of non-opposition from Councilman O'Neill.
We did also meet with the Planning Commission, who provided us a review lever of said meeting.
plans for the property photos of the property as well as the surrounding area maps of the area the
notice that was sent to the community of the community meeting our certificate of mailing
the application for appeal the deed for the property certificate tax plans as well as the
memo that was submitted so the refusal for this property we only have one refusal which is for
the accessory parking location where my client has converted the lower use for a interior parking
space which is not permitted in this district the property is currently zoned as rsa3 so the
refusal reads for the removal of one existing accessory interior parking space and the creation
of one accessory service parking space and we did meet with the community and we do have a
letter of support the community was held on june 8 2022 and as you can see we did receive resounding
support for this particular project which is straightforward and we received a vote of 25
in support and only three in opposition to the project and we did also receive a letter from
the councilman's office indicating he had a stance of non-opposition as well as a meeting with
planning just going over the refusal as well as why we felt that there was a hardship for this
particular property and that the use is very similar to that of what is going on in the
neighborhood the accessory parking space is very common throughout this 1000 block of Loney Street
Furthermore, as you will see in the presentation, there are other similar properties that have
also made similar conversions.
So it is also a hardship in that if this is not granted, it would lead to the property
being not used to its full potential.
And again, the distance between the easement and the rear wall is 28 and a half feet, so there's ample space for parking.
And again, the distance between the easement and the rear wall is 28 and a half.
This isn't a situation where you're trying to squeeze in parking in any way, as you'll see in the photos of the property as well.
And here we have the site plan. This is a single-family home.
There are no changes that are being made, with the exception of the lower-level floor here, which will be converted into a parking space for one car.
and here we have a view of the front of the property and you'll see a closer shot of the
rear of the property so this is the area that has since been converted and this is the driveway
again this is very similar to other properties in the area the driveway matches that of the
properties next door on either side of the property as well here we have a view of the
front of the property on Loney Street and here we have a view of the posting of the property
letting the neighborhood know of today's community excuse me today's dba hearing
and this is a photo of before and a photo after the rear of the property as you can see the only
changes to the driveway is that it has since been paved and then changing the door to include only
a single door as you can see this is also above grid views of the interior and this is only
shoot the left of the property only shoot to the right of the property and this is the rear access
easement as you can see here this is commonly used for parking vehicles so this is not an
uncommon use for this particular area a zoning map indicating that this property is zoned as rsa3
and there are three other properties as you see here that have similarly been converted
specifically 1014 loney street as well as 1027 loney street and 1019 loney street
and this is the letter that we sent out indicating that there would be a community
meeting that would be held on June 8th at 7.30 p.m. As you saw, we did receive resulting support
for this project, a copy of the refusal that was attached. Again, we're simply asking for the
accessory use of a surface parking space, as you saw in the photos, as well as other properties in
the area. This is not uncommon for this particular neighborhood. And this is indicating that the
mailing was, in fact, sent to all the properties as being effective. The application for appeal
our project information form, and indeed showing that my client does in fact own the property.
As well as our certificate of tax clearance and the memo that was submitted along with
the presentation material. And as you can see here in this exhibit, this is a use that has
dated back to 1996 of using the, excuse me, driveway as an accessory parking space.
and the nearby non-conforming uses so with that i will answer any questions that the board may have
and have my client adopt my testimony why don't we one of you adopt have your testimony adopted
thank you um if i could have anthony samarco raise his hand so that he could adopt my testimony
mr samarco please unmute yourself yes i'm here i could you please state your name and spell it
for the court reporter, please?
Sir, Anthony L, middle initial, Samarco, S-A-M-A-R-C-O, Jr.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Counsel.
Thank you.
Anthony, did you hear my presentation this afternoon?
I did.
And was it true and correct?
Yes, it is.
And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I would.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Beth C.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Ms. C, please unmute yourself.