Hi, Clementa.
Can you put your name and address on the record?
spell your last name you're already sworn in of course clemente amazon c l e m e n t a last name
a m a z a n addresses one two three south broad street suite 1600 1910 now 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 refusal 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, and it's a letter of support.
Thank you. The RCO is Walnut Hill Community Association, and Councilwoman Gautier has
submitted a letter of non-opposition, so you may proceed.
Thank you. I'll just share my screen.
can you see my screen yes we can perfect so in my materials i'll be going through the deeds
certificate of tax clearance notice of refusal application for appeal maps of the area photographs
of the property as well as the proposed plans and drawings as was mentioned we do have a letter of
support from walnut hill community association we also did a ton of community outreach and we
did receive a petition or we do have a petition indicating support from nearby neighbors as well
Here we have the deed shown that my client does in fact own this property and she does intend to move into the property as well.
The certificate of tax clearance, our notice of refusal.
The property is currently zoned as CMX4, although as you'll see in the pictures in my presentation, this is a residential block.
If I recall correctly, during the community meeting, the Council of Mazzoni A did mention that it is mis-zoned.
So if they were to rezone it, it would probably be zoned for residential use.
and we are just looking to have a duplex here we have the application for appeal again the refusal
maps of the area as you can see it is known to cmx4 but as you'll see from photographs
you have the front of the property this is a very clearly residential block
it's a left on randstead street here we have our proposed drawing so as i mentioned we are
looking for a duplex my client doesn't tend to move into the property
we have the letter of support from walnut hill neighbors association we did receive a unanimous
vote in favor of this project the meeting was held on july 7th at 7 p.m we also received a
letter of non-opposition from one of the affected rcls with philadelphia economic development
council and as i mentioned we did do outreach to the community to ensure that everyone was
comfortable and happy with this project so we received significant amount of support from
the nearby neighbors as well, including the neighbors to the left of the property, the
notice that we sent out of the July 7th community meeting, all the properties that were notified,
and our certificates of mailing. So with that, if I can have Chanel Surratt raise her hand for Julie.
Ms. Saragui, ma'am, you just-
Hello.
Hi, can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name,
and then after I'll square you in?
chanel surrett c-h-a-n-e-l-l s as in sam u-r-r-a-t-t 7-4-2-6 road street philadelphia
pennsylvania 1-9-1-5-1 thank you do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but
the truth yes i do okay you may proceed thank you chanel did you hear my presentation today
yes i did and was it your own correct yes it was and was you adopted as your own testimony
yes i will thank you thank you does the board have any questions yes madam chair could you go
could you go back to the basement floor plans of course so we do not have any
bedrooms for the basement i'll just zoom in so you can see that a bit better
I'll just zoom in so you can see that a bit better.
Okay, thank you.
Of course.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience with questions?
I see no hands, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Planning Commission?
This is Ryan Bednar, City Planning.
While the property is currently indicated for commercial mixed use on the city plan,
given the surrounding use context, we recommend that the requested variance be granted.
Thank you. Calendar number 1908-5146, Branstad Street. My vote is yes and my name is Carol Tenere.
Professor Plaza, yes. James Snell, my vote is yes. Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
I'm going to ask the board we have one more case for the two o'clock session and I don't know if
the court reporter needs a break or does the court reporter and the board want to hear the last case
and then break for the 3 30 hearings what is your preference this is the court reporter and that's
fine with me uh just do the next one and break either way is fine okay and the board is okay
with that that sounds good okay calendar number one nine seven two nine one three west dakota street
alan occamson
is the attorney
Hi, Alan, can you put your name and address on the record and spell your last name?
You're already sworn in.
Yes, Alan Nochumson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia,
PA, 19109.
Do you agree to weigh 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 and 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, we do.
We have an RCO APM letter of no opinion.
So you may now present your case.
THE ONLY THING I WOULD SAY IS THEY ACTUALLY PRESENTED IT AS A LETTER OF NON-OPPOSITION.
BUT WE CAN, YOU KNOW, WE'LL GO THROUGH THE LETTER.
MAY I SHARE MY SCREEN?
NOCHEMSON, I ACTUALLY QUOTED THAT DIRECTLY FROM THE LETTER THAT WE RECEIVED.
ALL RIGHT.
I THINK THE VOTE TALLY WAS ONE IN NON-OPPOSITION ON THE FRONT PAGE.
THEY SAID THEY HAD NO OPINION, BUT THE ACTUAL VOTE WAS ONE IN NON-OPPOSITION.
I AGREE.
I DID SEE THAT.
Okay, so I'm here to present 913 and 15 West Dakota Streets.
As you can see, these are going to be two properties next to each other.
These are RM1 properties.
What we're really trying to do is redistribute the land from one property to the next.
9.13 is currently 1,005. 9.15 is currently 7.47, and we're trying to equalize that
to put two family dwellings there. What you'll see is, let me just increase the size of this.
We have deed set property showing that West Dakota Development LLC owns property. Certificates
of tax clearance showing that they're in good standing with the city of Philadelphia with
respect to their real estate taxes. The notice of refusal, again, confirming that these are
RM1 properties, merely trying to reconfigure them to make them more functional because 915 is only
747 square feet. It would make sense to kind of equalize it. Showing the 900 block of West Dakota
Street, showing the lot sizes that is not out of character based on what we're proposing compared
to other properties on that block. Our application for appeal, maps of the area, photographs of the
property, our plans and drawing, and our letter from APM. So first things first, W Dakota Development
LLC is the owner of the property, well both properties, 913 and 915 West Dakota Street.
Our certificate is a tax clearance. There was a small debt owed on these properties which my
client took care of as you can see from payment here on there again there was a small debt owed
and payment was made here
and then i'm just going to just decrease the size just slightly so everything on one page
But our notice of refusal, we're just trying to relocate the lot lines here for this RM1 property.
but our notice of refusal uh we're just trying to relocate the the law
We're not taking an RSA-5 property and trying to increase the density.
It's the most minimum request necessary from the variance in terms of we're not asking for more units than is allowed.
Technically, we're asking for two units for an RM1 property.
And then you can see just the square footages of the lots on the 900 block of West Dakota Street.
Ours were equalizing it to 876.2 square feet each.
Again, right now, 913 is 1,005.
915 is 747.
To create functional floor plan for 915, we're just asking to equalize these properties.
but you can see that it's not out of character. Our application for appeal to the ZBA along
with our notice of refusal and project information form that we filed. The zoning map of the
area, as you can see, this is again an area that's RM1 predominantly. As you can see from
On the Google map, we are between 9th and 10th on Dakota, and on the other side is Arizona, as well as Dolphin Street.
Photographs of the property, West Dakota to the right of the property, West Dakota to the left of the property.
I'm going to decrease the size a little bit.
because my client owns both properties just gave him an opportunity to create a breezeway
down the middle so that will help not only for you know trash removal for both properties
both of these two two unit dwellings but also will help in terms of safety in terms of the
unit, you know, the bi-level unit on the first floor and the lower level will have access
not only to the front of the property, but going through the rear of the property for safety
purposes. And then just, you know, our floor plan. Again, if you go through this, you know,
you go up a flight of steps, you have a vestibule area to the right, go into unit one, which also
has, you know, first floor and a bi-level, unit two, you go up a flight of steps, same
thing, second and third floors are bi-level, it's a bi-level for unit two, or just our
survey showing how we're reconfiguring our lot lines, and then our letter of, I believe
non-opposition, but I can be, you know, again, I know they gave no opinion, but again, this
was a, you know, we'd flyer to the neighborhood by mailing out notice. Only one person showed
up to the meeting, and they were in non-opposition. So, so, and, you know, I know their letter
says they give no opinion, but, you know, again, you know, there was a community vote
taken, and it was in non-opposition. Here's notice of our community meeting for June 29th,
2021 at 5.30 p.m. They did not ask us to have another meeting because of the low turnout.
Again, we're taking an RM1 property and just reconfiguring it, and we're not creating any
extreme density to the neighborhood. This is a multifamily section of Philadelphia.
146 addresses were notified at this community meeting. Here are all the addresses. And then
AND HERE'S PROOF OF OUR MAILING.
WITH THAT BEING SAID, I DO HAVE ISAAC KATZ, THE MEMBER OF WDAKOTA DEVELOPMENT LLC, WHO
CAN ADOPT MY TESTIMONY, AND THEN I WOULD FEEL FREE TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD.
SO MR. KATZ, CAN YOU VIRTUALLY RAISE YOUR HAND?
I'm sorry, there's no hands raised and I was checked under his first name and last name.
So I hope as an officer of court, you would take my testimony as true and accurate.
And if there's any questions from the board, I would be more than happy to answer them
Does the board have any questions?
yes madam chair the uh properties new construction what what percentage is it is
properties new construction what what percentage is it is it is the building out of the ground
uh what percentage is out of the ground um i have to take a look at that let's uh share the uh
let's share again
let's see
i'm just gonna i'm gonna just decrease the size just to help myself look through the drawings
if you don't mind not at all
um it looks like it's three feet three inches out of the ground thank you you're welcome
is there anyone in the virtual audience with any questions
i see no hands madam chair thank you planning commission
This is our Ron Bednar City Planning.
Properties indicated for residential use on a city plan or adopted district plan recommends no change to the existing residential multifamily zoning at this location.
The applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances or condition of the property that were prevented from being used in conformity with the code.
Therefore, we recommend a request for variance.
Is there a basement? There's a basement here? There is a basement, but again, we have a
with no bedrooms, no bedrooms in the basement. I believe that the drawings do have bedrooms in
the basement, but I would say this, that there is a breezeway that we specifically created for
emergency circumstances, which will allow the individuals who are in the lower level to either
access from the front of the first floor or go through the breezeway. Also for trash removal as
well. Again, all we're trying to do is equalize these properties. Right now, 913 is 1,005 square
feet. 915 is 747. All we're trying to do is equalize these two properties to allow both of
them for the floor plans to work. In addition, again, this is an RM1 section of Philadelphia.
So by having such a harsh stance on not equalizing this, they're creating it so that we would be required to build a single-family home or seek a variance for 9-15.
So, again, this is completely RM1.
This is not like a single-family section of the area.
That's why only one person...
Go ahead. I'm sorry.
No, that's why no one really showed up.
One person showed up and they weren't opposed.
How many windows?
How many windows where?
In the basement.
There's two. There's one for the front and one through the rear.
I mean, we have an egress well, obviously, for both. That's code required.
So there's an egress well and another window and two other windows.
Hold on a second. Let me see.
There's two egress wells.
In each unit or in individual units?
Oh, no, in the lower level unit.
There's an egress well in the front and there's an egress well in the back.
And those are the only windows.
And they are three feet of window?
It's three feet, three inches off of the grade level.
does the board want to vote this or hold this
may i suggest we hold it madam chair okay well i'd like to know what the other board members want
can you repeat that yeah do you suggest that we vote it or hold it
i'm concerned about the basement and maybe we just need to take a better look at it yeah i i i'm in
agreement with you yeah i'm okay with you guys yeah so what i okay alan we're gonna hold this
calendar number one nine seven two nine one three west dakota street we're gonna hold this and vote
it. Ms. Sunkit, can we vote it next week?