But after the first meeting, we made, again, modifications to our project.
They were well accepted, and that's why we have a letter of support.
You'll also then see the application for appeal that we filed with the ZBA, our deed to the property,
showing that BP 4720 Mansion, LLC, is the owner of their property, and our Certificate of Tax Clearance.
In the virtual audience is Roy Aronovich, the member of the LLC that owns the property. And at the conclusion of my presentation, I'll ask that Mr. Aronovich virtually raise his hand, be sworn in, and then adopt my testimony as his own. And then obviously we'll take any questions from the board.
If there's any technical questions, we have Adam DeChant, his architect, available for questions.
So our notice of refusal, so this is an RSA-5 property.
We're not looking to increase density in any way.
It's actually a double-wide property.
We're just looking to make a single-family home with off-street parking, and we have two refusals.
The first of which, we have a balcony in the rear of the property,
um and according to the code any balcony needs to be at least 10 feet above the average grade
because we're in the rocksboro maniunk area uh you know they have you know sloped
uh uh you know properties and um the average grade is technically six feet uh 6.7 feet um
And, but in actuality, if you look at it from where we are in the rear, we're over 10 feet high. So again, the virtual audience, you can't sense my height, but I'm almost, I'm six feet, five inches.
So I appreciate the code provision to make sure that like balconies are at least 10 feet high, but there's no risk of anyone hurting themselves.
And the intent of this provision, too, is more so for front properties where you have a public right away, a sidewalk, where you don't want balconies too low from the ground to cause a hazard.
For those two reasons, you know, we asked the boards, allow us for this variance of the zoning code.
And then the second variance we're asking for is off-street parking.
Again, you know, parking's always at a premium in neighborhoods in Philadelphia.
it's you know it's not common to have a community actually in support of it but they are in support
of this we accommodated them by reducing the width of the curb cuts given where the property
is located we're basically at a cul-de-sac we're not affecting any on-street parking material
We're not affecting any on-street parking materially, and the community was in support of this project as a whole, especially given that this is a double-wide property that's being used for single-family.
And then you can see from the Ridge Park Civic Association, they make reference to three things in their letter.
We agreed to reduce the width of the curb cut and the garage.
They were appreciative of that. We moved the front door of our property. Originally, it was more on the sides, but they wanted something prominent in the front to have eyes on the street and a sense of community. We made that change.
And then the third change is we moved another balcony, which is not the subject of the refusal, from the rear of the property to the side.
That was more aesthetic. We're near a big park.
They thought it was more appropriate to have that balcony on the side, which we accommodated.
And based on that, they support our project as a whole.
And then, again, just to go to the heart of our variance request about the off-street parking,
It's not uncommon to have off-street parking in this part of Philadelphia.
So on the 4700 block of Mansion Street, you can see nearby off-street parking.
It's really 216 Hermitage, which is next door to us.
And then 218 Hermitage as well from Mansion Street.
You can see there's off-street parking.
And then you can see we're close by.
We intersect with gates.
So 240 Gate Street also has off-street parking for single-family use.
And then just, again, you can see from a map of the area, we're not increasing density.
This is RSA 5.
There's a big park here.
But this is where Gate is.
This is where Hermitage is.
So all the pictures we're showing you of off-street parking is close by.
But you can see we're kind of like at this elbow where, again, from a street's perspective,
We're not really affecting the on-street parking, given where we're located.
So I believe that's why the committee was in support of our off-street parking request.
And then this is just where we are from a Google Maps perspective as well.
And then as you can see, more of the park.
And then photographs of the property.
This is where we are, 4720 Mansion Street.
This is our hearing notice poster or proof thereof that we put up.
Mansion Street to the right of the property, Mansion Street to the left of the property.
Examples of interiors that Vich Properties has done, and as you can see, it's really about high-end materials, and that's what they plan to do for this project as well.
and then our plans and drawings again we sure in groups we sure in the width of the garage at their
request and the curb cuts and we reoriented the front of the front door instead of being
on the side front door we did as a front front door to make it more prominent
and then in our drawings it's referenced exactly how we change these things about relocating the
front door reducing the width of the curb cuts and then these are just sort of simple floor plans
first floor you get up through a common well here's the garage but you know first floor you
get the front door you have a living room and a dining room and a pantry and lower level you have
basically a secondary living area and then the second floor you have a few bedrooms you have a
a few bathrooms, and then the third floor is the same.
It's a four bedroom, four and a half bath house.
And then we have a roof deck.
And then you can just see from the slope
of what's going on here.
You can also see from the prep and the materials,
like we circle where we made our changes.
And then you can see here, this is the refusal.
um we're at at technically six feet here for the average grade uh for this balcony here but we
actually have 10 feet 11 inches so technically from a height perspective if you just take the
actual height the distance between the ground level and where the balcony is it's 10 feet 11
inches but because the code provision goes based on average grade and because we're in more of a
sloped area we run afoul of that provision and then just our hearing notice we met with the
community on december 13th at 7 p.m at a well-attended meeting 93 addresses were notified
of this zoning proposal, list of the addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, our application for
list of the addresses proof of mailing to those addresses or applications for appeal that we
filed with the cpa
or deeds of property showing that vp 4720 mansion llc is the owner of the property
and their certificate of tax clearance uh with that being said i would ask that
my client uh virtually raise his hand and um be sworn in
sir could you state your name and spell it please for the court reporter
court reporter did you did you hear that
could you do it one more time please sir yes sir no i i did get it thank you all right thank you
thank you do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes proceed counsel oh yeah yes mr aronovich uh can you uh you heard everything i stated today
yes and is it true correct yes and do you adopt as your own testimony yes thank you questions from
the board no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
do not see any further hands Mr. Chair okay Hillary will get a input from planning while
we're waiting for the report yes we will yes okay planning thank you Chair Bergman good morning
board members Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 single family zoning at this location the proposed
dimensional variance for deck height is well justified here by the unusual slope of the site
and the proposed deck we feel conforms to the purpose and spirit of the zoning code. With
regard to the use variance for front-loaded parking, we don't believe the applicant has
supported their hardship claim with evidence of unique physical circumstances or conditions of
the property. There's no parking requirement in this zoning district and accessory off-street
parking is not necessary to enable viable economic use of this property and so the city planning
commission recommends the board grant the dimensional variance for deck height but deny
the use variance for parking access okay so hillary we'll close this case is closed except
for when we hear from the streets am i correct um we will yes this this case is closed until we
receive uh except for um the receipt of the amended refusal at that point the board will vote
All right. Thank you. Mr. Chair, can I just make one point?
You can. Yeah, just in response. You're staying around anyway, so go ahead.
Just in terms of our request for a front-loading garage, it does make this project economically viable because without it, we would have difficulty selling this rather large single-family structure.
And I would say this, that the Roxborough-Manny Young section of Philadelphia typically is dead set against front-loading garages.
So by them actually supporting this project, it shows that this is a responsible use of the property.
Thank you for your additional information.
Thank you.
Number seven, MI-2022-005-184, 1624 Westmoreland Street, letter of opposition from Allegheny West Civic Association.
Councilwoman Bass has taken a position of non-opposition.
Applicant provided petitions in support signed by approximately 12 neighbors, along with two form letters of support from neighbors on Westmoreland Street.
Mr. Nockmson, could you identify your client relationship to this property?
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
I just wanted to note that we also received a letter of support from Swamp Poodle Neighborhood Parcels Association and affected RCO with three provisos, maximum two units, all trash stored indoors, and use of basement limited to trash storage and mechanicals.
Mr. Nackamson, identify your client, please, in relationship to the property.
Yes, my client is Tahana LLC, and in the virtual audience is its member, Han Wonk.
Okay, our vice chair has just a few questions.
Morning, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading out of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Have you emailed all the exhibits into our offices within five days of this hearing?
Yes. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
All right, so I'm here to present 1624 West Westmoreland.
During our presentation, we'll review the notice of refusal,
the correspondence from the coordinating RCO,
Allegating West Civic Association,
and as Ms. Emerson stated,
last night we received a letter of support
from another RCO, which we'll review as well. We made a concerted effort to also reach
nearby neighbors, so we have a petition and letter of support from them as well.
Then we'll review a use registration permit for this property. This property has a long history
of multifamily use. According to the permit that was issued some time ago, it actually
had a use of four units. We're only seeking three units under the circumstances.
But as the board can see that this is not a property that has has sole history of single family use.
Then we're going to review nearby recently granted multifamily variances so the board can see that it's not out of character for this community to have multifamily use approved by the community as well as the zoning board.
Then we're going to review nearby RSA 5 multifamily.
So in addition to the variances, again, if you walk by the property built or used as proposed, this property doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. It's something that fits more within the fabric of the area, as you can see by similar use of nearby properties.
Then we'll review maps of the area, photographs of the property, our floor plans, our RCO meeting notice.
It was a well-attended meeting of 24 individuals, but only two people voted during this meeting because those are the only two people that were within the affected area.
Everyone else was for another project.
So this was not a well-attended meeting.
That's one of the reasons why we circulated the petition and letters of support.
And I would gather that's why the council member's office also has issued their position of non-opposition to this project.
Then we'll review the zoning appeal or deed to property showing that Dahana LLC is the owner of the property and a certificate of tax clemency.
Because we do have some opposition for this project, in addition to my client, I also have, if the board feels appropriate, I have a contractor or my client's contractor who is going to state on the record the amount it would cost to renovate this property because this is a property in desperate need of renovation, which includes some structural issues that were discovered post-closing.
And then I also have my client's realtor, Brandon Mark, who would testify that based on a single family use, we could not justify sales based on how much it would cost to renovate this property and given how much my client paid for the property.
And because of that, there is a significant and sincere undue hardship under circumstances.
So our notice of refusal, again, this is an RSA 5 property. We're looking to do a three-family dwelling here. As you can see, in the past, as you know, in 1958 and for some time thereafter, this property was used as a four unit.
We're not looking to expand the building structure in any way, so we're not creating any other dimensional variances.
We're not trying to create a roof deck, which is disfavored in this neighborhood, and we're trying to responsibly use the property.
Now, we did meet with, again, the community, and unfortunately, it was well attended, but not for our presentation, but for another presentation.
in the meeting they acknowledged that you know this was a four-unit structure at one point
now it did have some single family use most recently so i do want to acknowledge that to
the board but again given the dynamics of this neighborhood how much you can either rent or
sell the property for as a single family and given the renovate significant renovation costs
it would be it would not be feasible to use as a single family and that's our own hardship
and then you can see that there were 24 people that attended the meeting and only two people
voted and those people were against the project but you can see that this you know again all the
coordinating rco does is report back what the community has to say and their position is to
state what the community has to say but there was another rco uh the swan poodle neighborhood
Parcels Association RCO, which is another RCO for this property, and they acknowledge that
And they acknowledge that multifamily use is appropriate under the circumstances.
multifamily use is appropriate.
In their opinion, two units is more appropriate than three units.
And they do have three provisos, one of which is to limit the amount of units to two units.
One is to store trash indoors, and one is no basement living.
We believe that the density that would be created is appropriate under circumstances for three units.
This is a rather large lot of over 1,500 square feet.
So we're not talking about a rather small lot.
And we think three units is more preferred than two units.
But we leave it up to the board's discretion of what they believe is the allowable or should be the allowable amount of units.
As far as the other provisor is trash stored indoors.
We have no objection to that.
No basement living.
I think I heard Ms. Emerson stated a little bit differently than what the community stated.
We would have no objection to trash storage in the basement, I think I heard, or something, for the one unit.
But we would ask that we would be allowed to use the basement for that first floor unit for those purposes and for storage in general.
and then you know again we made a concerted effort and you can see some of those addresses
that are on this block um are in support of this project and then i also had those same people
sign levers to support as well so it's really important for us to get the people that are
nearby uh to support you know to for the for the board to know whether or not they support the
project but you know again to acknowledge there are members on this block who are not supportive
as well. And I believe those were the two no's. But overall, the community supports it. And again,
we're not trying to convert a property that has no multifamily history. You can see from this
use registration permit in 1958, this was at one point a four-unit structure. And then this board
has come across multifamily requests in this neighborhood. And time and time again, they have
supported these variance requests. 3221-47 North 16th Street, which is around the corner.
3230 North 15th Street, which is around the corner. And then 1511 West Alligating Avenue,
which is around the corner, essentially. And then again, just to look at that block,
how it's being used, right? So we're 1624 West West Merlin. So you can see 1618 West West Merlin
is multifamily. 1615 and 1617 West West Moreland Street is multifamily. And then nearby around the
corner 3301 and 3303 North 16th Street is multifamily. And then again, basically the next
block over 1520 and 1522 West West Moreland Street are multifamily. And then 1525 West West
more than his multi-family and then maps of the area as you can see uh we're between 16th street
and 17th street and allegheny in ontario and this is from a google maps perspective and again