now fully the plan is to
make this fully be
the plan is to turn it to
be able to rent it over the course
of the 12 months so while
they may stay there every once in a while
they don't necessarily
anticipate additional bookings
they just
would like to be able to do it over the course of 12 months
instead of just six.
exactly okay if that makes sense other questions questions from our attorney
Exactly.
If that makes sense.
um just kind of a clarification um mr bentley is is not the owner of the property correct
no marcella is actually on the deed okay because mr bentley cannot adopt your testimony he could
Very well. Marcella, would you care to be sworn?
Marcella, could you please state and spell your name, please, for the stenographer?
Sure. My name is Marcella Bentley, M-A-R-C-E-L-L-A.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Thank you. Marcella, did you hear my presentation to the board today?
I did.
Is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Questions from the virtual audience?
Chair, I do, wait a minute.
I have a hand up from Cheryl Feldman.
I'll promote them at this time.
name of the person coming on hello hi good morning could you please state and spell your name for me
sure my name is cheryl c-h-e-r-y-l feldman f-e-l-d-m-a-n do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor i am part of the rco and
And I'm here on behalf of the RCO to present that.
Okay, please proceed.
This house is located in a very cohesive neighborhood.
It's a busy street, but it's actually row houses that used to be mill worker houses that are very affordable.
And we believe after discussing this after the presentation by Mr. Bentley and his attorney, we talked at length, and we believe the Airbnb will be setting a precedent that takes homes in this affordable neighborhood and moves them into transitional housing long term.
and makes the housing market more expensive in our neighborhood,
impacts cohesion in the neighborhood.
And so after much discussion, we decided that we wanted to vote against it.
We also did a survey of the near neighbors.
We delivered a survey to every near neighbor on the list.
When we looked at the petition that was provided,
We found that 18 of the people on the petition provided by Mr. Bentley were not near neighbors.
They were not on the PCPC list.
And there were four without addresses.
So it's not 40 people that signed the petition who actually are near neighbors.
And in our survey, we had eight people who responded in opposition and two in support.
from the survey that we provided to the board.
We also didn't, after thinking about it,
understand what the hardship was that was being shared with us
at the RCO meeting.
Mr. Bentley was there, and he explained that he doesn't intend
to increase the number of days rented per year more than the hundred-some that he generally
rents now. So we didn't understand what the need was to move this into a short-term rental
and not remain as is. It just seemed like there was not a hardship there.
and uh and so we concluded after after discussing it and we did have a very lovely discussion
but we concluded that this was not in the interest of the neighbors uh to to convert this
to a short-term rental uh thank you very much for the opportunity to counsel you have a question
i have no question just uh some points of clarity if if that's okay uh first
I have no questions, just some points of clarity, if that's okay.
First, it's already a short-term rental.
Vern, why don't we make sure there's nobody else online?
Very good.
Is there anyone else?
And by the way, Ms. Feldman, thank you for your comments.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Marlene Scheffler.
I will promote them right now.
there we go
good morning could you please stay and spell your name for the stenographer
sure my name is marlene schleifer it's m-a-r-l-e-n-e the last name is spelled s-c-h-l-e-i-f as in frank
we are all right do you swear on frank
hold on hold on hold on hold on hold on do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth. I certainly do. Are you a neighbor? An immediate neighbor? No. I live
about a block and a half away. Okay. And not for the past 36 years. Okay. Please start your
testimony. I am the president of Ridge Park Civic Association, have been for many years.
I have also been the RCO representative for many years as well. What I am seeing in my neighborhood
is that if there is a postage stamp-sized piece of property,
somebody is putting a humongous grain silo on it
and asking a million dollars for it.
And what we are losing is the ability for young people with children
to be able to buy reasonably priced homes.
And Cheryl Feldman is absolutely correct.
So, Marlene, I understand your points that you're making, but I'm more concerned about whether or not you think this should be an Airbnb.
I do not.
I think it's going to make the other homes much less affordable.
And the fact that people are coming and going all the time does not add to the cohesiveness of the neighborhood.
All right.
All right. Well, thank you very much for taking the time. Vern, do you have any questions?
Yes. Hi, Marlene.
I have just a couple of quick questions. I do appreciate your testimony, of course.
Would you happen to know if my clients weren't able to keep this property and they needed to put it up for sale,
would you happen to venture to guess what that asking price would be?
um as a matter of fact my house was listed and will sell because i am moving to a co-op
for three hundred and seventy seven thousand dollars it was also much newer and um it is
only 35 years old the average homes the issue that i had was getting it to appraise as high
as I wished it would.
Do you realize that the property
would probably sell in excess of $500,000
in its current condition,
which would automatically raise
the valuation of the other homeowners
in the immediate...
I question that.
I don't believe that that's the case.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
No further hands, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Madison Matera, Planning Commission staff.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 residential single-family zoning at this location.
The appellant has not demonstrated that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances of this property that would prevent conformance with the zoning code.
The Planning Commission recommends the Board deny the requested variance for visitor accommodations.
Mr. Chair, if I may?
Again, this is a property on, as the RCO testified, on a very busy street, across the street from a parking lot, and immediately adjacent to a bar.
My client is a gold star host with Airbnb, a five-star rating.
Everyone who lives on Umbria Street has signed this petition.
And every one of the 42 that have signed, if they're not on the PCPC list, then they're merely a block and a half away.
And for all those reasons, because of the overwhelming support of the immediate neighbors, we're asking for the relief.
Thank you.
Thank you.
MI 2026-002-891-4741-Umbria Street.
I vote yes.
Temporary variance.
That expires 10-29-29.
10-29-29.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes with proviso.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Tyia Nguyen, my vote is yes with proviso.
Laila Beebe, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you, counsel.
Number 13, MI2026, 000550, 2825 to 35 Cotman Avenue.
Zengen is the attorney.
They're coming back in as a panelist now.
Good morning.
Good morning, counsel. Could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N-J-I-N.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Yes, my client is Eastern Plaza LP, the property owner. Mr. Sam Tang is here on behalf of the corporation.
All right. And counsel, we now have an RCO letter, am I correct?
We have only an RCO letter from one of the RCOs in the area, the coordinating RCOs.
The other counsel, I'm talking to our counsel here, but we know you're a counsel too.
We have a letter from, so we're missing the other one, but we have the letter from
Northeast Philadelphia Development Corporation, RCO.
Is that okay? Is that the same information you have then?
Yes, that is the same information I have.
All right. And our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Good morning. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing?
Good morning. Yes, we have.
And thank you. And do you weigh the reason that your refusal is to play to its accuracy?
All right. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case.
Thank you. I'm going to share with the board what was previously submitted as an exhibit in this matter.
It should be coming up on the screen.
Can the board see my exhibit?
We can, sir.
Thank you.
Good morning.
This is an application for 2825 to 35 Cotman Avenue.
This is a CA1 commercial auto one zone district.
This is an application to allow this existing restaurant venue to obtain assembly and entertainment nightclub private club license zoning
for this location.
So the proposed use,
assembly, entertainment, nightclubs,
and private clubs is prohibited.
This particular location
is supported by the RCO
that submitted a letter.
This is the
North Philadelphia District Community RCO
that issued the letter.
We did not get a letter
from Mayfair Civic Association, the coordinating RCO.
We did have a meeting with Mayfair Civic Association
per the notifications I have attached with our exhibits.
So I wanted to show the board the location
and what is already there.
This business actually opened
and has been operating in this location
for some number of years.
During the initial applications through zoning, the location was opened as a karaoke bar restaurant.