Yes, as you wish, Madam Chair, if you could just announce that the record is closed and
it will be discussed in next week's executive session and vote it at the beginning of the
9.30 session.
Thank you. And this record is closed. We'll discuss it in executive session.
and um we'll begin our hearings at 9 30 and that's when it will be voted did we get our
planning commission's input we did all right great um madam chair i'm sorry to tell you about this
but i learned that there is another case on the list that has to be called um i'm sorry jaron
yes it is 3 30 oh perfect thank you then never mind i'll let you know during the break
oh my gosh so we really did miss a case at two o'clock no it
it i guess according to tanya it's actually at 3 30 but it's to be heard
but it is not on your 3 30 list i will send you the information now
oh no you're doing this again okay thank you okay we're going to take a break um and we will be back
at 4 is 4 45 okay sounds great madam chair okay great thank you so much
good afternoon my name is carol tenary and today i'm the acting chair of the zoning board of
adjustment i'll be participating in today's hearing along with board secretary confessor plaza
and board members Thomas Holloman and James Snell.
Board Administrator Tanya Sunkett and Fatina L. will also be present.
Board Attorney Sharon Saleta is in attendance.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in one of our virtual hearings,
I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect.
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, we'd like to advise everyone this proceeding is being recorded, and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. It is available to the public and on the web.
Third, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine, then star six to unmute yourself. That is star nine, then star six to unmute yourself.
to enter an appearance statement call google strike that to enter an appearance statement
call 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and address of the property at issue again the
number is 267-270-5548 leave your email address and address of the property at issue fourth
The question and answer box is not for testimony.
Any comments are to be directed to Ms. Tanya Sunkett, our administrator.
Are there...
There are no continuances for this 330 list.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience with requests for continuances?
Madam Chair, we have Catherine Missimer. Please unmute yourself and please wait for the chair.
Good afternoon. Hi. Catherine, can you put your name and address on the record?
Sure. It's Catherine Missimer, M-I-S-S-I-M-E-R, 1835 Market Street, Suite 1400, 19103.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
okay and you are requesting we had actually submitted a attorney moving party request
via letter on august 12th for 2100 benson street mi 2020 000735
okay that is not on our list miss saletta can you shed light on this
I cannot. Kate, does this say a resumption hearing? I know the address, but.
I'm sorry. This is Tanya. This case is attorney moving party.
Yes. And we received notice. It was scheduled for today. So we just submitted our letter to
confirm we were still attorney moving party. Yes. It's attorney moving party.
Okay. Great. So we're all set. Remains continued.
Correct.
Great.
Until you reach out to me.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
There are no other hands, Madam Chair.
Thank you.
Calendar number 1792-1402, Castle Avenue.
Castle Avenue. The attorney is Jennifer Bezidlo.
The attorney is Jennifer Brasivlo.
Hi, can you put your name and address on the record, spell your last name,
and you're already sworn in. Sure. Jennifer Bezidlo, B as in boy, A as in apple, C as in zebra,
Y, D as in David, L as in Larry, O as in Oscar, 4500 Worth Street, Suite D202, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, 19124. 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 to all of that.
Okay, and I show that South Broad Street Neighbourhood Association has submitted a letter of support with provisos.
I believe that is true.
Okay, so you may proceed.
We're all on the same page.
Okay, good.
Hold on one second.
I just, the bar of this, I need to move something.
Hold on one second on my computer.
Let's see.
Okay, there we go.
Sorry, technical difficulties.
All right.
My name is Jennifer Vazidlo.
I'm here today representing Lindsay Koontz, who is the owner of this property, and also her husband,
Lee. I've submitted this packet that has the refusal, the deed, just so you know they purchased
this property in July of last year. Not all the city records are reflecting Lindsay's ownership
yet, but she does own it. So there's the deed. Let's see. Proof of tax compliance. Here we go.
Tax cert. Zero balance on property taxes. The letter of unanimous support from SBSNA.
Our notifications that went out to all the addresses with proof of mailing.
notification to all the RCO groups. And then I also have the zoning map of the area. This is
our property right there highlighted in blue. And then I'm going to show you the rest of the
exhibits as part of my presentation which are aerial views of the property photographs,
our proposed design materials, and plans. So let me just get to the right page.
And so here we have, let's go to larger view. This is 1402 Castle. I just want to orient you a little bit of where this property is. It is a little over 1800 square feet.
it's zoned RSA 3 and it's located on the corner of Castle Avenue and this little street
South Rosewood Street it's right off abroad just north of Moore and across the street is the South
Philadelphia Community Health and Literacy Center with the library and CHOP and there's a playground
over here. So like I said my clients purchased this property in July of 2020 and they are currently
renovating the property and restoring some of its historical characteristics. Let me go to
a front view of the property so you can see it. There's our zoning posters. So this is the front
of the property um so they're restoring it they are intending to use this as their personal single
family home uh for themselves and their growing family including their one-year-old daughter
um so this isn't you know a flip situation this is for their own personal use um the property was
in pretty rough condition when they bought it um Lindsay has a design background and they're
working on really restoring even more so than renovating this unit this excuse me this property
But we're not here for the inside of the building, we're here for the outside of the building today.
They are seeking to add an accessory off-street parking space in the rear of the property.
So let's just go, this is the side here, and we'll show you the rear. So this is the rear of
property. And that accessory parking space would be accessed off of South Rosewood Street, which
is a tiny, this is the rear yard. South Rosewood is a tiny little alley street here that it only
runs right here and then it goes down to Moore. So in RSA 3, the curb cut and the
parking accessory parking itself is a oh sorry let me just back up so yes it's a small side street
So yes, it's a small side street. There is no on-street parking. The car you see here is
there is no um on street
actually parked in another parking lot. And there's also very little pedestrian traffic
because this is right off of Broad. So most of the pedestrian traffic going north-south is on
Broad Street. So like I said, this is an RSA 3 property. The curb cut and the, I'm just getting
to the plans here one second. The curb cut and the concept of accessory parking is allowed by
right in RSA 3. However, this parking space, I don't know if you can see it, hold on this is
blocking this, is in the required rear yard area which is what's generating the refusal.
um there is limited space in the rear yard um the uh rear yard itself is 17 and a half feet
and the required rear yard is 15 feet so there's physically no place where you could put this
parking space um on this property um that would not be in the rear yard um so that's kind of where
we're limited here, but we are creating a curb cut and the concept of the accessory
parking is allowed by right in this zoning district. This is not out of character with
what's going on in the neighborhood right across the street. So let's just go to the
zoning map actually. Hold on one second. I just want to show you. So here you can see
when you go to the area, right across the street, you have the parking lot for Prudential Bank,
and then across Castle, you have a parking garage for CHOP and the library. So you have an area
that's pretty, it's not out of character. And then also, so that's where the parking space
would be would be in the rear yard um let me just go to that's the parking garage that's across the
street from the property this is the bank and parking lot that's across rosewood and then so
the other thing is that this is the other side of castle avenue at 15th and castle um between castle
and more uh which is exactly like the the opposite property opposite end of the block from where ours
And they not only have parking, but they have garages that are built occupying 100% of the lot area.
And these spaces also, unlike ours, take away from street parking.
Our proposed parking spot, while it would be in the required rear yard, is still open.
There's no proposed parking structures.
There's no garages, huts, whatever.
It's still going to be open space.
It's just going to have a car on it.
um all right so when we applied so that's the first variance and then there was another variance
so when we applied for this off-street parking that was the only variance we were anticipating
however we also got a variance for this side wall um as far as I can tell there's pictures that go
back online to 2007 this wall has been there when we talked to the neighborhood association
none of the residents could remember a time that this wall wasn't there and there are several
people who have lived in the neighborhood for 30 plus years. My guess is that this is a very very
old existing wall. There is no plan to change the height or material of the wall or extend the wall.
We are going to leave this small wrought iron wall in the front and we had extensive conversations
with the RCO about this wall.
In fact, we went back a second time
to discuss the design of the wall.
So let me just show you the design we came up with
that I think creates a nice balance
between maintaining that privacy
for the owners of the property.
Because if you look out of their property,
you just see right through the parking lot of the bank
onto Broad Street,
like one of the busiest streets in Philadelphia.
So let's see, here we go. Let me just get to the proposed design. So here's the wall and the design we would, we are proposing adding trellises and possibly planter boxes on top, painting the wall a solid dark gray color, maintaining some of the historical character, creating visual interest, but not blocking the narrow side.
but not blocking the narrow sidewalk of the street.
sidewalk of the street. And that was really what neighbors care.
And that was really what the neighbors cared about,
was just trying to break up the wall a little bit.
We'll also be adding for the parking space a sliding wrought iron gate,
so it'll have a more open feel to it,
and it will be like a design that's aesthetically pleasing
and matches the wrought iron, the historic wrought iron of the property.
So like I said, oh, and it's also really important to note
that I know the lower height fence on side fences is it's often brought up a security issue.
This doesn't exist here because as you turn the corner you actually have this open area with this
very short very open fence. You're not going to be you know turning a corner to a six foot fence
and having someone jump out at you. It's not what's going on here. You have a nice open space
for most of the property, and then just the rear yard area is blocked off with this existing
cinder block wall that the owners intend to improve and add some really nice design elements
to. Like I said in the beginning, the owner has a design background, and so she doesn't want this
wall to be ugly either, is what I'll say. This is their personal home. We met with SD and SAA,
A, South Broad Street Neighbors, let me just get to their letter. Hold on, this is up here.
And we had two meetings. We met with them first on June 15th, and they asked us to come back
with some more design options for the fence. There was absolutely no concerns about the
off-street parking. All of the concerns were regarding the design of the gate and the fence,
And so on 720, we came back.
There were 16 members there.
Nine of them were nearby neighbors who had been notified for letters.
And there was unanimous support.
They did include two provisos.
We all acknowledge that they're not enforceable.
And they are about the design of the wall and the gate.
But we agree to those and have every intention of following the desires of the neighborhood.
Because quite frankly, they are the desires of the property owner as well,
which is really to make this a nice space and improve the overall aesthetic of the property.
So with that, I would like to have Lindsay Kuntz, the property owner, raise her hand and adopt my
testimony, unless there's questions from the board. Does the board have any questions? No, Madam Chair.
Lindsay, are you here?
you can unmute yourself and please wait for madam chair
hi lindsey put your name and address on the record spell your last name and i'll swear you in
i'm lindsey kentz k-o-o-n-t-z my address is 1402 castle avenue in philadelphia 19145
Thanks, Lindsay. Oh, sorry, Carol. Do you want to swear in?
She needs to be sworn in, right? Or did you already swear?
Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes. Okay, go ahead.
All right. Hi, Lindsay. Did you hear my testimony here today and believe it to be truthful and accurate?
And would you adopt it as your own?
Great. Thank you. Is there anything else you want to add? It's okay if no.
I know this is just your home.