Do we see any hands?
i know they were on for a while yeah oh here they are mr dixon okay mr dixon could you state
your name and spell for the court reporter kevin dixon k-e-v-i-n d as in dog i x-o-n
right you swear firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes sir what is it okay to use just mr dixon is that okay count that's fine
go ahead mr dixon you heard my testimony to the board yes sir and is it true and accurate
yes sir okay and you would adopt it of your as your own yes sir okay thank you sir questions
from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman and and council in in the paperwork
it said events areas when in fact this is just a meeting space is that correct yes essentially
that's basically what my clients their office is a meeting space essentially so it would be
a meeting space slash office right questions from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission good morning david fecto city
planning commission mr chairman and members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no
change to the single family zoning at this location the property has a documented history
of auto repair so a professional office would appear to be less impactful than the previous use
the property assessment record indicates that the property already has four bedrooms so given the
existing conditions of the property this also appears to be essentially a legalization of a
residential use. So the City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the use variances.
Thank you very much. MI-2021-003215-2625 West Oxford Street, I vote yes.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes. Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
MI 2021-003-197-4353 Paul Street. We have no exhibits. This is the second listing.
Is there anyone here associated with the property?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
M.I. 2021-003-197-4353, Paul Street. I vote. We dismiss.
Carol Tenere, dismiss. Thomas Solomon, dismiss. James Snell, dismiss. Ishmael Shahid, dismiss.
this. MI 2021-005-226-4734 North Street. Joseph Consol is the attorney.
Letter of non-opposition for Taconi Civic Association.
Chair, Mr. Consol is coming back in as a panelist now. Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Consul. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Good morning, board. It's Joseph Consul. That's C-O-N-S-O-L-E.
Good morning, Board. It's Joseph Consul. That's C-O-N-S-O-L-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Good morning. Joseph Consul here for 4734 North Street. Is my screen sharing up with my packet?
Okay. The owner of the property is Thomas Coughlin. He's on this call.
This property is a 3,184-square-foot corner lot.
Mr. Consul, our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this meeting,
and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes to all thank you may proceed and share
your screen okay so i've got my zoning appeal packet up still uh it's a 3184 square foot corner
lot at noor and hagerman just going to give you guys a little front view uh this red uh brick
building is the four-bedroom single-family home this property next to it uh was historically
a deli and a grocery store um and around the corner this is the hagram and street side
and this is the back and the side of the property and the garage that i'm going to be
speaking about in one moment. So in the 1930s, the property was approved for a grocery store
and a single-family home. As I just showed you, there was a garage structure approved and built
in the back facing Hagerman Street. When my client bought the property, the deli was boarded up and
partially rehabbed as a single-family unit, one bedroom, and the garage structure, as you saw,
was in need of rehabilitation uh so at the moment the property has two units in one structure
and a separate garage with which fronts on Hagerman street um and we have uh there's the
two electric meters um for those two units uh for the uh this former grocery store structure here
and the single-family home there.
So let's back up.
Our goal here today is to seek approval
to legalize the existing second unit
to remove the old garage
and construct a third unit that faces Hagerman Street.
My client had originally designed and submitted plans
to rehabilitate the garage into a three-unit building,
and our original variance request
included those three units plus legalizing the second unit in the former grocery store.
However, we met with Tocconi Civic on February 28th. At that time, they were interested in the
rehab of the property, but were not interested in adding three new units. They suggested a single
family uh unit uh and not a three a three unit building where the garage is and um because they
suggested that uh we took it to my client um and we rehab the plans we submitted our provide our
plans with provisos showing um that that what was originally requested to be a um a three bedroom
unit a three unit uh where the garage is is now a single three bedroom unit for a family
um so the rco in response to that submitted their letter of non-opposition and um they also
submitted a list of provisos all of which my client is prepared to uh accept and adopt if
if they're enforceable to the extent they're enforceable the exterior of the new proposed
structure has not changed but our request now is to legalize the two units that currently sit on
the property and build the third unit into a three-bedroom single-family unit which will face
hegerman street okay so my packet contains the new plans my packet contains the the photos of
the property and all the other required documents we believe there are unique physical characteristics
of the lot that demonstrate sufficient hardship for the granting of this variance.
First of all, we have a large corner property, which has most of the frontage on Hagerman Street.
So there's an existing garage structure that is sorely in need of rehabilitation and being replaced.
There's an existing garage structure that is sorely
And the existing structure was in the past, as I said, approved for a deli and a grocery store for at least 90 years ago, as far back as I could tell in the zoning archive.
but we don't believe that converting that structure back into a deli or a grocery store
would be beneficial for the neighborhood as they specifically stated they did not want
commercial use in that property so just going to give you another view of the side of this
property here and regarding the construction of the third unit in place of the existing garage
the single-family nature of this side of the block of Hegerman will not be disturbed,
as although this is technically on the same North Street lot, the new structure will front Hegerman
and be in line with the existing single-family homes on that side of the block. Incidentally,
the other side of Hegerman Street is multifamily, this whole building here.
Finally, this garage itself sits out like a sore thumb on the block.
And we believe that replacing it will beautify the neighborhood and create a nice sense of unity with the rest of the block on Hagerman, whereas now it's just kind of the side, the awkward side of this property, which fronts Noor.
Call my client.
Tom, if you could raise your hand virtually.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
There's no one hand raised by their name.
Tom, are you in the audience?
Mr. Counsel, you're an officer of the court. We'll accept your testimony.
Okay. Thank you. I'll rest on...
Questions from the board?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Counselor, what's the hardship for five units?
we're not seeking five units um mr holliman we are seeking the rehabilitation of the garage
into as the rco uh wanted one unit uh and the legalization of the two units that sit on the
property already the four bedroom home and the uh existing former deli uh slash grocery store
so it'd be a total how many units three okay thank you so what does the deli become the third
unit well the the the deli where to go the deli is this building right and you can see from the front
um that that structure right there on the left there is uh like i said um primed to to become
it's it's a single a single family or a single bedroom uh unit right now that is not occupied
pending hopeful approval here and he has some more work to do on it too um from when he bought
it but yeah so that would be a unit this is a four bedroom home here and then his hope is to
convert this space back here into one three bedroom unit that would be flush with the existing homes
on the block so counselor it's a total of four units it's three it'd be one one in this building
here and then one in the main house here thank you so mr council you initially wanted five
the rco spoke and you dropped it to three yes sir okay questions or comments from the virtual
audience here i see no hands at this time planning commission thank you sir david effecto city
planning commission mr chairman members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change
to the residential single-family zoning at this location the applicant has not demonstrated that
a hardship exists that would require the construction of a third unit since two units
exist today the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the use variants
with a condition that the number be limited to two.
MI 2021-005-226-4734 North Street, I vote yes for two units.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes for two units only.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is for two units.
James Snell, my vote is yes for two units only.
Ishmael Shahid, for two units.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes for two units.
Thank you everyone.
MI 2021-005-231-4659 Rising Sun Avenue.
We have no exhibits.
This is first listing.
Is there anyone in the audience?
here i see no heads at this time mi 2021 005 231 46 59 rising sun avenue continuance must be tried
MI 2021-005-237-6959 Tulip Street, Justin Crick is the attorney. No letter as of yet from the
coordinating RCO Taconi Civic Association that we see. Chair, Mr. Crick is coming back in as a
penniless now. Mr. Crick, you've already been sworn. Yes, thank you. Could you identify your
client? Yes, the client is Catherine Salisbury. She is the proprietor of the business located at
the property. And has there been RCOs involved? Yes, we did meet with the RCO on March 22nd.
uh the the meeting was was not that heavily attended but it was our understanding that
they were preparing and would submit a letter of support to the board okay our vice chair has a
few questions for you and mr crick 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
a copy of the refusal 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? Everything but their letter
which is out of my hands but we have followed up with them to try to have them to do so. I was
under the impression they may have submitted it directly but if you're not in possession of it
I do not have one either at this time. Okay thank you you may proceed and share your screen. Thank
you all right um mr chair members of the board um i'm here today uh presenting an application
let's unpause i'm here today uh presenting an application for the property at 69 59 tulip
street in philadelphia pennsylvania the applicant is seeking to expand an already existing use of as
a daycare on the first floor with the expansion to now encompass the second and third floors
of the same building in an existing structure.
The refusal is that a daycare, this property is located is RSA 3 designation and therefore
the daycare is prohibited in the district.
Again, it has been approved by administrative permit in April of 2011 for the first floor
and we are currently, Ms. Salisbury is the recent proprietor of the daycare, seeks expansion
to allow for additional students and additional offerings to people of the neighborhood for
the daycare service onto the second and third floor. And as it indicates on the ZVA, on the
refusal, the daycare center at the first floor, and it was a club, a social club for the Knights
of columbus at the second and third floors in the in the recent past uh with at that time was given
a maximum of 23 children for geographic purposes the property is located on tulip street between
tyson and distant close to uh state road and and you know in the northeast and i'm just to give you
an idea the lot size of this property is approximately 11 300 square feet is a very large
property on the corner here with ample space outdoor for the children to play um and and you
know enjoy themselves outside uh the improvement size of the building is about 3592 square feet
and actually this picture better better represents the size of this property um some of the some of
the thoughts that we discussed with the neighborhood while they were not necessarily concerns
were how drop-off and pickup works.
And because Tulip Street has a sizable frontage on it,
there was no concern of the neighborhood
regarding any traffic in the increased use
of the second and third floors of the property.
The surrounding area is RSA 3 as well.
And just some exterior photos of the facade.
Again, the first floor is currently in use,
is a legal use since about 2011. And we are looking to just increase with upstairs and
is a legal use since about 2011.
and we are looking to just
downstairs. You can see some of the equipment on the outside used for recreational purposes.
So what we're seeking to do again, first floor use, interior photos,
seeking to expand same into
second floor which is not being used but for some storage of materials but would like to be
converted additional second floor it is space that has been updated uh and is ready for use
for this purpose um a rough sketch of the property by miss salisbury uh herself in order to save on
some of the costs of an architectural drawing but as you can see the open floor plans generally
speaking of these buildings uh would would very much uh be in line with the need for the type of
classroom slash daycare facility that she's looking for here's an exemplar copy of the lease
i'm sorry ed was that a question directed yeah now continue i'm sorry all right uh we have tax
clearance for miss salisbury and photographs of the posting on the property as well as actually
maybe i did receive this not too long ago um yes i guess on april 5th
we did receive a document um and in in essence if i recall i guess the the i know from the meeting
that they were in support but we do have down at the bottom that the zoning committee does support
the variance request the property has been used as a daycare for many years not a problem with
the neighborhood parking traffic and maintenance all occur without influence of neighbors uh there
was very little attendance at the meeting and um i apologize for for overlooking the fact that i
i may have received this and i did include it in the package uh in the beginning um so at this time
Ms. Salisbury also just should let you know that she is the owner-operator of other daycares.