great good morning good morning
good morning everyone
good morning everyone my name is bill bergman and i will be chairing this zoning board hearing
this morning before i do our roll call the board so everyone knows we have a a new board member
Laila Beebe is our new board member. She is a lifelong Philadelphian. She's also a business
agent for the Carpenters Union. She really does understand this whole construction process.
So we are extremely fortunate to have her. And thank you so much for taking this aside,
but we could really use your help. Thank you. And we also have with us our vice chair,
Tanetta Graham.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Ty O'Wynn.
Ty is here, so she's remote today.
And also our board member, Ryan McAdams.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is our attorney, Lynn Reuter-Uber.
Also our director, Ian Haggerty.
And our board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
This hearing is being recorded and will be posted on the ZBA website.
By participating, you agree to be recorded.
This is an in-person meeting with remote participation.
Whether in person or on Zoom, if you're called to speak, please state and spell your name,
wait to be sworn in, and after that, each time you testify, start by stating your name.
To enter your appearance, indicate the property number on the ZBA webinar, speak with a staff member, call the ZBA office by the close of business tomorrow.
call 215-686-2429, and also provide your name, email, and the address of the case.
For remote participation, raise your virtual hand when directed so that we can call on you to speak.
When we call on you, please click the Join as a Panelist button.
Use the Q&A only for procedural questions, not comments about the case. If you're called to, if you are joining by phone, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
in-person participation testifying get close to the mic so that all attendees
and the court reporter can hear you no talking eating or drinking during the
hearings aggressive behavior will not be tolerated in a case of an emergency
follow the directions of the staff the exit is the double doors in the rear
and to the left of that is the stairwell.
If this is an emergency and you have to evacuate,
go over to Love Park and please remain there so that we can call on you.
So let's look at our schedule for today.
Number one, MI 2023, 001-945-7128-30, Yocum Street.
Sammy Masva, please come up, sir.
good morning sir could you please it's the mic one yes okay could you please state your
name and spell for the stenographer my name is sammy moustapha s-a-o-s-a-m-o-o-s-t
take your time m-o-s-t-a-f-y right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth. I will do. Could you please give us an update on your case? This is about the fifth or sixth.
Could you please give us an update on your case? This is about the fifth or sixth time we've listed this. Could you tell us where you stand?
Yes. I understand that my case has been a long time, and I would like to continue, and I'm sorry, whatever happened.
Okay, where do you stand? What is it you need to do?
I need to extend, give me a chance to get a lawyer and continue my case.
Okay, so we're going to continue this one more time to give you a chance to get the lawyer.
This will be continued to 9-15-26 at 9.30 a.m.
9-15-26, September 15th at 9.30 a.m.
And then number...
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
at number five mi 2026 000 787 226 harvey street have happy street um david orphanetes is the
attorney but we're just going to continue this so this case will be continued until 9 15 25 at 9 30
a.m attorney moving party 9 15 20 oh that's okay don't give it a date then okay all right
all right so that's case's attorney moving party go to our first case
Number two, MI 2024-004-304-2001 Kinsey Street.
Good morning, sir. Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer winston banks w-i-n-s-t-o-n banks b-a-n-k-s do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do okay so this is a this is a resumptive hearing
and what we need you to talk about is uh uh the supplicant things you've done since the last
meeting right and then we'll have the board ask some questions and our attorney and then we'll
for public right so why don't you do this just for the record give us an idea what you were trying
to do what your case is about and what you've done since the last hearing well from what i
understand the only thing that the board required me to do was take um new pictures that were clear
that were clear um opposed to the last pictures were which were grainy so that's what i did and
submitted them and i have a receipt and that's the first one right okay all right do we have
okay that shows where you had to post it right right that is the first floor
apartment um the living room dining room area right there um that is the kitchen
from the second floor um the second floor units there's um three individual bedrooms
That's the kitchen from the first floor of you.
Right.
That's the hallway looking from the rear to the front where the staircase is going up to the second floor.
Right.
That's my room.
That's the bathroom on the second floor.
that's the hallway from the opposite end um from the top of the landing looking to the kitchen
on the second floor that's the main doorway for going up to the um second floor from the ground
level and that's all your photos
that's all your photos no no no sir there's more yes sir there's about 12 of them okay all right
that's all the photos that i have i will double check okay just just relax
statement okay because i have the receipt that y'all accepted them okay all right
Is that it?
Well, that's one of the pictures.
Okay. The last hearing, I identified that on the third floor, there's two rooms, but one of the rooms have the file cabinets. That's where I store all my office, and that's a picture of it.
That was another, yes, the other room where it's just storage of furniture.
No living space.
Well, no living, nobody's in the living room.
That's the hallway going up to the third floor from the second landing to the third landing.
That was, that's Richard Ross' room.
Richard Ross room. That's his room. Oh, okay. That's Leroy McCain's room.
What? Yeah, so me, Leroy McCain, and Rich Ross are on the second floor. Oh, okay. All right. All right.
That's the duplex you're in, right? First floor is rented, and then the second. Who's on the first floor?
um um hasan arthur okay and you went to uh the rco and the rco was in support of you
oh yes and also the council person yes all right questions from the board
so the third floor you you just have access to for your office correct yes yeah and your
primary residence is on the second floor yes so the first the first floor does not have access
to the third floor, because I closed off like that?
Yeah, I have a picture of the whole outside building,
and I would have shown it to you.
And this is not a rooming house, right?
No, just a couple of guys.
But the first floor is one complete apartment.
Other questions?
Oh, my last question.
The basement.
Is there anything going on at your basement?
Additional storage.
And who has access to that?
And I had, there's a middle, I can't describe it, the staircase from the outside, because I can't go into his apartment to go in.
Right, from the outside.
All right, thank you.
Any other questions?
So you're doing this without licenses at this point, correct?
Like residential rental license?
No, no, I do have, I have license, tax and clearances, and I have the certificate of suitability. I have all that.
You have rental licenses?
Without the zoning approval?
Well, because for years I was granted the rental license.
And then I was, they held it up until I filed, until I filed, which was in 2024, and then started the process.
Okay. And then there are two separate entrances.
I don't remember the exterior pictures from before, but there are two separate entrances for the first floor unit and then the unit that you have. Is that correct?
Yes, yes, because years ago, a couple of years back, when Ellen and I first spoke to me in the MSB building,
they said, as long as you have two separate bathrooms, two separate kitchens, and two separate entrances,
it should be no problem.
And that's what I have.
Y'all have a picture of the outside of the building.
I don't see it, but y'all showed it last time.
Yeah, I think you showed it the last time.
And then, just out of curiosity, it looks like one of these kitchens, or both of these kitchens, have two refrigerators.
Is that?
That's true.
Why is that?
Because the refrigerators were, well, even though they had the standard size, I just had them, you know, for convenience.
But two refrigerators for the one?
person well he came in he came after he came later i mean i just had on for years okay and so
but there were two but both kitchens have two baths two two refrigerators right yes okay right
thank you other questions
Thank you. Other questions?
Questions from our attorney? Not at this time, Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual
audience or this audience here? No hands at this time, Chair. Planning Commission. Madison Matera,
Planning Commission staff, M-A-D-I-S-O-N, M-A-T-E-R-A. Do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Please proceed. The comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the rsa5 residential single family zoning at this location in 2014
the city changed the zoning maps in frankfurt at that time this property changed from rm1
residential multi-family to rsa5 in 2012 two years prior to the zoning map change the property
received a use permit for a two-family dwelling since this is a legalization of illegally
non-conforming dwelling the city planning commission recommends that the board grant
the proposed use variance for two dwelling units. MI 2024-004-304-2001 Kinsey Street,
I vote yes with proviso. Certificate of occupancy to be obtained.
Oh, Cheryl, sorry, Mike's not here. Cheryl Caston, my vote is yes with proviso.
Danetta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso. Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ty Owen, my vote is yes with proviso. We're good. She's not voting. Thank you, sir.
Thank you very much. Is that it? You're coming in. Chairman, sir, that's it.
That's it. That's it. That's it.
Okay, number five, MI2025-006-648-739-North 44th Street.
Joseph Consul is the attorney.
Mr. Consul, could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Yeah, it's Joseph Consul, J-O-S-E-P-H, last name's Consul.
C-O-N-S-O-L-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
This is a resumptive hearing.
We understand that you will give us a supplemental information, and if you would, why don't you just, in starting it, talk about what you were going to do and what the supplemental information is.
Yeah, you got it.
Let me just share my thing real quick.
Okay, Joe Consul here for the applicant, which is No, Rose, and Ridwayne, LLC.
Mohamed Ola should be on the call, although he did adopt my testimony last time, and his LLC owns 739 North 44th.
We were before the board on April 22nd.
At that time, the board's feedback appeared to be generally positive.
However, several board members raised concerns about a couple of issues on the plans that they wish to see addressed prior to taking a vote.
My client took that feedback seriously, went back and had the plans for the rehabilitation redrawn and submitted them as part of a proviso that we submitted to the board.
So I'm not going to go through everything from top to bottom again, but I will just give you a brief overview and respond to the board's comments on April 22nd.
This is seeking to convert this property into a three-unit building.
At the hearing on April 22nd, the board brought up three issues they wanted to see rectified on the new rehabilitation plans.
First, there was a concern about the configuration of the rear exit.
There was only one rear exit, and that was through the back bedroom.
Previous board member, Johns?
No, he saw it.
Oh, okay.
He's just on vacation.
I was confused about what was going on.
He took a little vacation.
All right.
So board member Johns didn't like that. There was only one exit through the rear of the back bedroom and wish to see one through the kitchen.
He noted that this layout would allow for that.
And so an exit through the first floor kitchen was installed on the the plans.
And then the updated provides a submission.
Second, the board raised a concern about the front porch condition.
This is one that's a little trickier to address.
they either suggested closing up the windows from the front unit looking out onto the porch
or making that porch only accessible by the front unit so the front porch is going to be
only accessible through the first floor unit and then finally the board requested revisions
And then finally, the board requested revisions to the second and third floor bathroom layouts to include both showers and bathtubs.
to the second and third floor bathroom layouts.
And that's also been included.
So to recap, 2023, this was remapped from RM1 to RSA5.
There's at least two active three-unit buildings on this side of the block.
And we're hopeful that our proposal will be pleasing to the board.
we have full support 10 to nothing from the rco and we believe that we're presenting a good project
you want to have your testimony adopted uh mr ola are you available virtually
they're being promoted to panelists
Do we see him?
Yeah, good morning.
This is Mohammed Ullah.
could you please spell state your name and then spell it for the stenographer
mohammed m-o-h-a-m-m-a-d-u-l-l-a-h right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth it's true please proceed counsel uh mr ola did you hear my testimony just
now regarding your project and the updates that your architect made to the plans yes do you adopt
those as your own yes you okay you agree with what i said thank you questions questions from the board
can i see the layout for the second and the third
tell me when to scroll or not scroll that's this is on the which is my right
that's the bathroom yes there yeah there's the bathroom um on each of those okay so
okay they were able to fit a tub on the second floor and a shower on the third floor
yeah yeah a little small sorry let me get the reading
oh and there's also trash closets were installed on each of the three floors
i don't believe that that was too big of a deal but we put them in there
and then it says on the third you didn't put in a tub
i don't believe they were able to fit one on the third floor mohammed are you
aware of the reason for that the third floor yeah they gotta have it at the top too
on the top floor you're gonna have them at it yeah they already added though
i can see it on the second floor but not on the third floor drawings exactly mohammed
because i guess i guess the question really is you know could you do one of those you know with
the bathtub with the shower i actually think seems like if it comes to that i'm just i don't
i'm not sure what was done so can we probably just says the bathtub here i'm sorry here's what
what it looks like now, Mohammed.
Okay. Thank you.
I can ask the architect to try to make the updates and expand that room a little bit.
Other questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney?
None at this time, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Madison Matera, Planning Commission staff.
This property was remapped to its present RSA 5 residential single-family zoning as part of a community remapping in 2023.
The RSA 5 zoning is consistent with the recommendations of the comprehensive plan.
The appellant has not demonstrated that there are unique physical conditions or circumstances of the property that were prevented from being used in conformance with the zoning code.
The City Planning Commission recommends the Board deny the requested variance for multifamily living.
So, MI2025-006-648-739-North 44th Street, I vote yes.
So MI 2025 006 64
Sheryl Gaskin, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Board.
Thank you, Councilor.
Have a good day.
number six mi 2026 000 484 1254 north 19th street alan knockamson is the attorney
morning council morning mr chair could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer alan knockamson a-l-a-n last name knockamson n-o-c-h-u-m do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth is nothing but the truth i do could you identify your client
the relationship to the property uh yes my client is invest 365 llc the owner of the property so
this is a resumptive hearing
and my understanding is you will um um start out and give us some updates about
the project right am i correct yes yes um and then um it'll be questions from the board and we'll
public comments and also planning so why don't you start and tell us give us an overview where
you were and where you are now great uh first of all welcome uh board member uh bb uh to the board
i look forward to presenting more projects in front of you including this one um so welcome
uh so this project is in the brewery town section of philadelphia uh my client is looking uh to put
two-family household living here and just as a matter of background this board or a version of
this board approved this project in 2020 my client was not involved with that but you know as part of
that project not only was the zoning variance granted for the same exact use and dimensions of
this prop of this project but my client also got my client's predecessor also got a building permit
for the project unfortunately the person who who started this project uh didn't have enough time
or money to finish it my client then purchased it unknowingly was unable to get the building
permits reactivated because of the length of time from his predecessor my client then tried to
reactivate it but was unsuccessful so he's going through this process merely to essentially
reactivate this zoning permit that was previously approved by way of variance and then hopefully
a building permit when i made a presentation of board we showed full community support for this
project and showing that this was an exact replica of what was previously approved by this another
version of this board there was concerns about the basement use again you know i understand the
concerns about you know basement use you know with this board I would not typically present a
project of this type like as a new but you know because of the doctrine of vested rights and the
circumstances that came about how this project came about and the fact that it's basically the
shelves completely built and many different components including the foundation were built
I stated that you know we asked you know to allow this project to proceed by way of variance
You know, the board was still concerned about like the access to the basement and asked us to consider having exterior steps leading from the rear of the property because we're a corner property, so we have that ability to do that to from the rear of the property to the exterior first floor, and we were able to do that.
we submitted revised plans which is two pages showing that exterior access where the opening
on the ground floor would be coming through basically a laundry room going up a flight of
steps to the first floor and then have a walkway in the rear yard and that is all in my presentation
i am not i have not been promoted as a panelist so i don't have any ability to share my screen
WE'LL TAKE CARE OF THAT FOR YOU.
OKAY. BUT THAT'S THE GIST OF WHAT HAPPENED HERE.
AND JUST AS A MATTER OF JUST RECORD-KEEPING PURPOSES, THERE ARE TWO REFUSALS HERE.
ONE FOR THE USE. OUR LAW IS 765 SQUARE FEET. UNDER BASE RM1 ZONING, WE WOULD BE ALLOWED AS A
RIGHT TO HAVE TWO UNITS, BUT WE'RE IN AN OVERLAY WHICH REQUIRES ADDITIONAL LOST SQUARE FOOTAGE OF 850
SQUARE FEET AGAIN THIS YOU KNOW THIS PREVIOUS VERSION OF THE BOARD HEARD THAT TYPE OF ARGUMENT
THAT TYPE OF ARGUMENT NOT JUST DURING MY LAST PRESENTATION BUT YOU KNOW FIVE YEARS AGO OR SIX
NOT JUST DURING MY LAST PRESENTATION BUT YOU KNOW BY
YEARS AGO AND APPROVED BASED ON THOSE SAME MARKET AND SAME CONDITIONS THE SECOND REFUSAL HAS TO DEAL
WITH NO ROOF DECK ACCESS STRUCTURE ALLOWED BECAUSE WE'RE IN AN OVERLAY BUT IT'S NOT OUT OF CHARACTER
BECAUSE THERE ARE OTHER ROOF DECK ACCESS STRUCTURES NEARBY STILL HAVEN'T BEEN PROMOTED AS A PANELIST BUT
are we taking care of that
thank you
So I'm just going straight to my exhibit for, I don't know why it's going that big of a screen, but it is.
So let's see if I can, oh, not that small.
Let's see, sorry about that.
I don't know why it's doing that.
anyway these are revised plans which show uh the uh you know the basement um the exterior steps
leading from the basement to the rear of the property and there's a way to get out as well
so and i can also show my floor plans which have been revised as well let me do that
okay here we go and as you can see here this is the basement level uh this is the laundry room
and this is the door that comes out of the laundry room in the lower level go up a flight to steps
and then come out uh you know the rear uh where there's you know access secondary access for that
lower level unit i'll leave that page on there if there's any questions you want to bring your
client on yes uh mr good can you virtually raise your hand
they're being promoted to panelists share thank you
how you doing hi good morning could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
now g good n-a-j-e-e-g-o-o-d-e right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes counsel uh yes mr good first of all you're an authorized uh
representative of invest 365 llc the owner of the property yes uh you heard everything i had
to state today about your zoning matter yes is it true and correct yes and do you adopt
this your own testimony yes thank you questions from the board
um i'm gonna ask again um what is the depth actually for this uh i can i can take a look at
it um let me see i think we're almost exclusively below gray uh you know below
it is that's what it is uh seven feet yeah so again we understand that this is something that
the board typically would not approve as a new but this is a building structure that's already up
with the foundation and and everything in between we were probably like and correct me for more
nausea you're probably like this is this project is essentially halfway done would you ask yes
Yes. Order frame is complete and a few of the MEPs. It was just left there, though.
So besides this, the only light in the air we're talking about is from this exit here.
That is correct.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Thank you.
question question about changes so when i know right now you said it's seven feet below grade
but previously it was nine feet three inches below grade so did we no we did no adjustments
no we did no adjustments below grade it is nine feet three according to my notes i have handwritten
notes here that says nine three three inches so we have not made any changes to the fiscal
characteristics of the depth of the property we can't we have the foundation what was asked of us
from this board was to see about maybe having a secondary form of egress for for the occupant
for the you know first uh for unit number one which is on the first floor and lower level
yeah i mean we had talked about that and we had talked about trying to increase the window wells
yeah i mean we had talked about that and we had talked about trying to increase the window wells
um i can't speak to that i know that we will you know we made whatever modifications we could and
that's what we did by way of the uh exterior staircase okay are there any others window
wells in the building at all um mr good it's two okay so there's one in the front bedroom
right here in the front is one on the side in like that living room area and then it'll be
the egress the new egress door step so it's three down there in the basement and your point and
right here that'll be w7 and then if you scroll down a little bit more because i can't see
it's the other w7 those are two egress windows okay other questions from the board
questions or comments from our attorney no questions at this time questions or comments
from the virtual audience no hands at this time chair planning commission madison matera planning
commission staff the comprehensive plan recommends no change from the previous cmx2 commercial mixed
use zoning at this location however in 2017 this property was remapped to rm1 residential
multi-family as part of a wider council supported remapping action additionally in 2020 the board
granted a variance for the erection of an accessory roof deck with roof access structure the lot size
is variance being requested as de minimis.
Therefore, the City Planning Commission
recommends the board grant the requested variances
for minimum law area for two-family dwelling and roof
Number six, MI 2026, 000484, 1254 North 19th Street.
I vote yes with proviso.
Revised plans, two pages, stamped by ZBA on January 7, 2026.
Sheryl Gaston, my vote is no.
Taneta Graham, my vote is yes with proviso.
I'm McAdams, my vote is yes with proviso.
Iowyn, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Number four, MI-2025-003-573-1828-McClellan Street.
Commander Rizzio is the attorney.
They're being promoted to panelists, Chair.
Morning.
good morning good morning council could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes raymond orizio last name is spelled d-o-r-i-z-i-o uh my address is 2 pence center suite 520
philadelphia pa 19102 attorney id is 93400 i represent the applicant for 1828 uh mcclellan
Do you swear or affirm the tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Just for the record, could you identify your client?
Yes, my client's name is James DeSimone.
All right. So this is a resumptive hearing, and we want you to give us an update of where we stand on the case now.
And if you would, when you start out, talk about what the case was real shortly and then talk about what it is now, okay?
Sure. So my client is looking to, it's an RM1 property. He's looking to have two units. The refusal was for the non-setback in the third floor or the roof deck. So the third floor setback and the lot, minimum lot requirements.
so he was only um let's see he was so those were the two um we met with the rco three times the
first meeting they asked us you know that they have a setback we did a mansard roof it seemed
like that was fine uh we haven't had any pushback on that minimum lot requirement um a variance
were asking for i think it's four feet that my client is asking for um at the second rco meeting
they asked my client to submit a certification that he was going to be live in one of the units
he did that he is going to live there he's a a resident of the area lifelong he wants to stay in
the area. It would be two two-bedroom units. We met again recently June 22nd at an RCO
We met again recently June 22nd at an RCO meeting.
I think some of the issues were like raised that it would be a multifamily, but that really wasn't an issue with the refusal.
My client is going to be, you know, the owner taking part in some of the building, the general contractor building and residing there.
So those were the issues.
okay um why don't you bring your client on if you would please and he can adopt his testimony okay
Mr. DeSimone
he might be
he's he was registering i know we it said 10 30 i told him to log in a little earlier so
i will yeah did that person raise their hand if they're in a virtual audience can that person
raise their hand he's trying to register okay i'm gonna send him my link um
maybe that will speed him up
sorry for the delay
I sent him my link to that I registered on okay all right I wanted him to register on his own
did you get in touch with the council well with my client yeah yes should i i well i mean look
you're bring them in on my phone because i text for the let's make you're an officer of the court
You reported on the changes. We'll take your testimony. But I think this case is we're going to hold it in a way. Am I correct?
Yes, we're going to hold, but we're going to give it a date to hold.
All right, sure. All right. Questions from the board?
Questions from our attorney?
Yes, we're going to actually hold this matter because there's an issue with tax compliance.
Oh, there he is now.
And just to address that issue, I did attach the appeal because the tax compliance we attached was for the permit that he was cleared.
But I also attached in my packet submitted last week was his appeal document that the tax issues under appeal.
My client did just join.
Under my name.
OK, OK, one minute.
What years were your appeals for?
Um, it looks like there's an agreement that's indicated, um, with regard to 2026, but nothing
is indicated, um, on the actual like websites for, with regard to 2023 and to 2025.
So that's three years.
That's still in collections.
The form.
That's what, that's what it's for, Ray.
It's for, hold on.
I'm sorry.
I'm pulling the form.
Oh, wait, uh, council.
Hold on a minute.
Uh, sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yep, James DeSimone, and it's J-A-M-E-S, and then D-E-S-I-M-O-N-E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth?
Yes, sir.
Okay, so, counsel, you were saying?
Yeah, so the form that I have is real estate market value appeal for the year 2027.
That is the form that I attach.
I could supplement that if my client has the ears mentioned by counsel but he
recently purchased the property we're gonna still hold it we're gonna hold it
we're gonna we're gonna give it a date at all we're gonna give it a date right
now of August 5th and I just sorry this is Hillary Emerson just in terms of the
If you appealed the 23 to 25 taxes, you still would need to pay something to be in compliance while the appeal was pending.
So we need something from either, I mean, something from the revenue department that indicates while your appeal is pending that you are in compliance.
So for right now, it shows that you are not in compliance, it's in collections.
It doesn't show an appeal.
Okay. So why don't we, uh, um, questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Okay, so why don't we, questions or comments.
No hands at this time, chair.
Are you relative to this case? Okay, sure. Come on up.
good morning sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
well does that mic one
thank you please state your name michelle andrea ward is spelled m-i-c-h-a-e-l-a-n-d-r-e
last name is ward w-a-r-d do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes your honor and your neighbor yes please proceed with your testimony yes i live at 1830
mcclellan street and i was uh against the request of the um james de simone okay i have uh testimony
and about signatures from my neighbors who were also against uh this particular case
the reason my concerns is when they had demolished this house in 2020 it had damaged my house
so when he goes to build a structure I'm really concerned about I would like the
variance still to be there whereas it fits because of just safety issues in regards to
the property itself also the property of 1828 mcclellan street has a tree that's growing in the
back on the property that's protruding into my yard which i'm really concerned about if they're
doing construction that's going to also damage the property next door all right so you're against
this because you're concerned yes during the process it could hurt your property yes a lot
my neighbors also have signed um they live up the street council do you have any questions
no i don't have any questions thank you so much for all right thank you we appreciate your time
anyone else in the virtual audience can i ask a clarification question um so so the current
property uh uh is going to be demolished no i believe that the city took down the property my
client brought bought a lot yes yeah okay all right thank you planning commission
oh we already testified but do you want me to for me i think we already have testimony but do you
want me to re no okay you're staying with that past testimony okay so um we're going to continue
is to august 5th at 9 30 a.m um hillary it's closed am i correct
that's just the vote okay so well just for the vote okay all right thank you very much council
thank you have a good day okay um
ian uh we're we're really ahead of schedule um do we know if uh
the other council is coming or she's going to be on the, because we're about right now, we're about the 40 minutes ahead of schedule.
She's going to be online? Okay, good. All right.
Okay, MI 2024-006-832-4283 Viola Street.
We have two counsels here, Meredith Verliger and Steve Masters.
While we're waiting for Meredith to go on, Steve, could you please state your name and spell for the scenario?
good morning mr chair members of the board steve masters s-t-e-v-m-a-s-t-e-r-s
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do hi mr masters could you identify your client or relationship to the properties
my client is the viola street neighbors association we are the objectors yep meredith
good morning good morning could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Good morning. Good morning.
Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
meredith ferliger f-e-r-l-e-g-e-r do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth yes i do could you identify your client in a relationship to the property
sure my client is haverford square viola llc which is the owner of the property okay all right so
So, we have a schedule here, and we ended with you, Steve, if I'm correct, and I think
the last time you talked about was your case would take 30 to 45 minutes.
That's what you said.
All right.
That sounds possible.
But, Meredith, I understand you want to have a response to transcripts now?
is that right well mr chair i i still have more of the transcript to go through we didn't finish
the entire transcript i think hold on one minute okay mr chairman i had made my objection during
the last hearing about mr master's introduction the board had overruled that objection okay i of
course will have my client come back on for some redirect in response okay all right so why don't
do this why don't we we'll go right with steve is that okay yep steve why don't you start your case
okay i think i need to be promoted to panel
yeah we tried to be but there's but there's a few more that i needed to put onto the record
yeah how how much and this is all part of your 30 to 40 minutes yes okay i don't i don't remember
that but uh i thought yeah because i i well all right let's let's get to it how many transcripts
do you have to go over uh let me get it up here
okay it is page 175
so members of the board and and the new member welcome uh
were you i i'm assuming you're you had a chance to to listen to the to the she has not done that
yet she hasn't she will be here she's here to uh uh experience the whole oh great okay all right
she'll start tomorrow okay um we we ended um our the uh the recitation of the of the transcript
last time um around page 175 um this was uh questions from neighbor neva white um and she
was trying to get at um what kind of background check mr yakubov was going to be performing at
at this location and what would prevent an individual
from being able to rent the property?
And Mr. Yakubov said, it's case by case.
And then Neva said, well, give me an example,
at least two cases that you would not rent to
based on a background check.
And Mr. Yakubov said, it depends on violent crimes
that may be and how recent those crimes
may have been committed and the circumstances
behind those crimes that may have been committed.
You know, nobody's perfect.
Then Neva said, what's the next violent crime?
So if they've been convicted and served their time
and they've committed a violent crime,
you would not rent to them.
And Mr. Yakubov said, that's not what I said.
And so Neva said, tell me what you're saying.
Be clear, sure.
And Yakubov said, well, it's not a clear,
it's nothing's clear in life, right?
So in this instance, everybody's case is different.
So if somebody got out of jail yesterday,
right for killing someone I'd want to know what happened right and and if it I
if I'm okay with that then they could live in my building okay it varies so
it's a case-by-case and Neva said can you at least give us two examples of two
individuals that would not be able to that would not be rented to based on
their background check that's the question I'm asking and German said oh
I'm not sure would have to be a case-by-case basis I don't know I can't think of every single
and Neva said give me one example of an individual you would not rent to that's what you're saying
here today on the record that you can't give us an example of one person that you would not rent
to based on their background and Yakubov said check that's and then Meredith said correct with
all due respect there are very specific requirements under the Philadelphia code under the state law and
there are very specific requirements under the philadelphia code under the state law and federal
federal law in terms of who
law in terms of who he can and who he cannot rent to so um and then neva said can you give us an
example of one person you would not and um and then it appears to be german saying i don't know
i would treat everybody and neva says am i able to ask your attorney and german said um is not
the one that's going to be able to to live there or let them live there or not so i think that if
somebody walks in and then somebody might deny them i might approve it maybe because i like them
so it varies so it's somebody that i have to end up managing and i have to make sure that they'll
be able to pay their rent and that you know that they wouldn't damage the property or anything
okay case by case so neva says so just be clear you you determine who rents you solely determine
who would be able to rent and you would call it in that place you would be the person who would
be making that decision and German said it wouldn't be a room it would be a bed and yes
so how when you start I said it how much is they think you'll be reading
it's it's almost done okay yeah all right thank you so then Kia asked to reduce recidivism is it
to give people who are coming out of jail a place to live because they need to have you you you can't
if they come out with the ankle bracelet they have to have a room and a place to live and this helps
people from recommitting crimes i mean there there's some research there and germans said yeah
it's not i mean if that's somebody that can afford the rent then they are more than welcome
to stay at my place but it's not who we're targeting and not targeting them and then sandy
carter said what's to say you won't have conflicts when people want to wash their clothes when they
want to wash it but the washers are all tied up and they're going to walk they don't want to fight
over the washing their clothes and the same thing with the kitchen suppose they want to cook at a
certain time how do you resolve these problems resolution conflict resolution is something
that definitely should be given to us about this property because it's ludicrous it makes no sense
And Germans said, no, I don't think that,
and then, I'm sorry, there's then Andrew Goodman
from Jamie Gaudier's office said,
what about rental subsidies and vouchers?
Will this building involve Section 8
and other government subsidies?
And Germans said, no, I don't think Section 8 provides,
I could be wrong, but I don't think they provide
subsidies for group living.
And...
then joy smith said do you have any other group living buildings that you manage and
if so what the what's the volume do you have any volume of incidents and if so what is
the general makeup of that tendency do you have any other group living buildings that
you manage and german said we haven't managed the group living building in about six or
seven years but up until that time we had a lot of student housing which was effectively
group living. We had eight buildings next to each other on Haverford Avenue that had seven bedrooms
each that had about 56 people collectively and we've been managed on a regular basis for many
years. And then Jeffrey Cruz from the New Presbyterian Church said, I'm concerned about
mixing of adults and children on the same floor. So would you consider or have you considered
segregating populations by families, children or male and female to minimize attention and promote
safety germans said i think practically speaking if somebody's moving in here more than just
themselves if they're if it's them and another person they're more than likely able to rent an
apartment for a thousand a month if it's three people it would be 1500 a month so i think
practically speaking i don't think that families would end up being here just as a practical
matter it's not 500 a room it's 500 a bed so i think as a practical matter i don't think families
would end up being tenants here. So that's that part. As far as segregating by sex, I don't know
if that's even legal. Okay, we've concluded the transcript. Okay, so you want to start your
presentation? Yes. Okay. Well, the remainder of your presentation. Yes. So to recap, when we
started our presentation um i i argued that um the burden is on the applicant and oh i had um
i can pass this up to the to the new member because i gave a copy of
of this to each of the of the members we don't we don't have to do that okay all right so
So let's assume for argument's sake that this project is actually a unique transitional housing group living situation.
transitional housing group group living situation um meredith has argued vociferously that it's not
uh it's not single it's not it's not single uh residence it's not a group home it is some kind
of a almost magic quality that fits the definition of group living but doesn't fit the but doesn't
doesn't trigger the the refusals that that uh that a a personal care home or or a single room
occupancy would would would trigger uh what we what i want to go to next is um the actual
definitions of transitional housing meredith has has provided a significant amount of of verbiage
in her memo of law that argues that this project qualifies as a group living, which is with
a special exception, but she never showed you any actual definitions of what transitional
living is. So in
our transitional living
i'm sorry go to this first so in terms of the character of this neighborhood
uh meredith has argued that there is multi-family housing saturated throughout
this area that isn't the case when we're talking specifically about this block of viola street
in our on exhibit seven in our exhibit these are all single-family homes
that are on the exact block that we're talking about on viola street
it's virtually the entire block on both sides is single-family homes
so here in exhibit eight is what both under state law and and under the city of philadelphia's code
constitutes transitional living so i'm not arguing that this use is going to be exactly
one of these what i'm what i want to show the board is that transitional living has an actual
defined parameter it isn't just words that are put together to to allow um a developer to place
people in in a building um who uh without any of the safeguards and without any of the of the
common sense uh requirements that that are needed to have healthy and safe living this um definition
is from the Pennsylvania statutes and you will see that in a hospital the definition of a
non-hospital facility is a facility licensed by the Department of Health for the care and treatment
of alcohol dependent or other drug dependent persons except for transitional living facilities
so in that case transitional living facilities are related to alcohol or drug dependent persons
The next definition is called, the category is zoning of hospitals and this is an illustration
of proposed transitional living facility which would provide housing and meals to individuals
transitioning from controlled group quarters to independent or semi-independent living
such as incarcerated individuals did not fit within the town zoning ordinance's definition
of a continuum of care use as the provision of a spectrum of services to the frail and
chronically ill, and thus the proposed facility was not permitted as an accessory use to a hospital.
So again, I'm not arguing that this specifically is the same facts. What I'm telling you is that
transitional living is something that traditionally relates to people who are incarcerated who are
coming out of incarceration who are drug who who have been struggling with drugs and and other
addictive substances and who are and who are now coming into a way of of moving moving beyond that
the next one the one is zoning of hospitals and this is also from um
from the Pennsylvania jurisprudence,
from the Pennsylvania jurisprudence.
a proposed transitional living facility
which would provide housing and meals
to individuals transitioning from controlled group quarters
to independent or semi-independent living,
such as incarcerated individuals
didn't fit within the town zoning.
This is 53 PS 10609.1,
procedure for land owner curative amendments and here we have applicants as the bearers of burden
to provide evidence related to statutory enumerated impact factors were not entitled
to curative amendment of a town's zoning code to create a single zone that would allow applicants
to construct a transitional living facility on two separate properties in appeal of a decision
by the town council challenging the zoning codes and requests for curative amendment where the
applicants fail to address impact factors leaving the town with no information on which to base any
cure consideration of impact factors in 55 pa code 3800.292 we have the following requirements
do not apply for transitional living uh child who leaves the premises of a facility
the case of act one inc versus richard kleinhold appellants is this still
still documents that you said meredith put in or these are other documents you're blown to now
No, these are our documents. Meredith just had a, she finally, she finally produced her.
You're showing us what your interpretation of the law is.
No, I'm telling you what the state, not what my interpretation of it is. I'm telling you what the, how the state defines transitional living. It's people who are formerly incarcerated, people who are, okay.
Also, my own, I'm just telling you, you're mixing it up a little bit when you start talking about hospitals and I don't, I don't, I don't understand what that's about.
so people who are coming out of hospitals who need a place to live that's that's a definition
of transitional living so those those are the folks who should be the main people who are going
to be living in on this in this structure and okay a little bit more clear there okay all right
uh background landowner sought judicial review of a town council's denial of validity challenge
to a zoning ordinance denial request for a curative amendment to add transitional living
facility and homeless shelter as permitted uses in that case uh the proposed transitional living
facility did not fit within the town zoning definition of continuum of care and um
said that the ordinance didn't make a provision for transitional living facility use or as a
homeless shelter um so again this is they're linked together what we're talking about are
people who are profoundly limited not able to live on their own but here we have a situation
where there literally will be no caregivers there will be no custodians there will be no supervisors
they will all be 50 60 people will be in this in this location without anyone providing any
services or any supervision um back in uh about a year and a half ago the board uh ruled in in our
favor when i was representing some applicants in uh south philly about a proposed uh it was
it was a proposed uh a drug rehabilitation center um and in that case the board understood that
that while if a qualified team had come in to to to manage that i think the board would
have approved that use but the team that they chose were people who had been prosecuted by
the department uh by the drug enforcement unit for violating uh drug laws um that they they were
they were a mess and they were and they were uh they had literally no background in what they
were going to do um so here we have the same situation we have uh we have we have a proposal
that literally has no none of the safeguards none of the guard rails that we have come to expect for
for transitional living um situations they're the only thing that is provided here not even a bed
is provided we we've established that um they have to bring their own bed they have to bring
their own their own safe in order to provide for security for their own for their own belongings
they they have a closet apparently that they share everything is is kind of topsy-turvy upside down
everything is is kind of topsy-turvy upside down I don't think we've ever seen any of us on
in this room have ever have ever seen a proposal like this before um and it's it's quite alarming
um so all right this is still this case we're going through this um
here is in bloomsburg industrial ventures llc versus town of bloomsburg this case deals with
a community living facility and whether it's properly zoned the residents of a community
living facility have mental health problems or conditions and as it's currently proposed the
transitional living facility would not be limited to only those individuals diagnosed with mental
health conditions and therefore um mr sapati uh did not believe that that um as currently proposed
the facility fit into the ordinance so again this is another when we're talking transitional living
that's what that's their language that's their choice of how they chose to put this
to categorize this it has nothing to do with people who are well who are independent who are
going to just put their head down apparently between like one month and and um and 12 months
that's not what a transitional living facility is and they have no the only the only uh aspect that
that they claim is that some years ago there was um a building that that mr yakubov had students
living in which is kind of like a dorm uh many times and i think this this board has has has
seen this many times that when when when when students or young people are put into dorm-like
um settings that are privately held not connected to the school not not not um basically uh supervised
by the school in any way there's a tremendous amount of of harm that goes to those neighbors
and uh i just i had a case not that long ago in in which um the the developer decided to
not go forward after we were very uh insistent on that so uh i think we're pretty done with the
with the traditional the transitional living things um
i wanted to then go to the comprehensive plan so in our when when this location came up the
first time for the 16 unit multi-family living uh we we went into depth on uh the the um the
it's it's called the um uh reclaim which was the the the the um the plan that was created by the
the design collaborative for specifically for this block of viola street and um
I wanted to go to one slide on that.
So one of the criteria that we, that, that they have to show
is their burden is that it's that their proposal
is consistent with the comprehensive plan.
In this case, it is completely in violation of the comprehensive plan.
The comprehensive plan was created by this neighborhood and the planning commission in a special proceeding along with the design collaborative.
This slide shows the existing zoning and the proposed zoning for this block in Viola Street.
the existing zoning had a significant amount of both RM1 and CMX2 that all changed by what when
this when this plan was was put into into effect it removed all of the CMX2 and when we're looking
at um this part of viola street it is all um rsa5 there is um there's been no representation by the
applicant to to explain why um it's necessary to destroy this this specific this special plan that
was created by the planning commission by the city of philadelphia with the neighbors
to maintain the historic integrity and the very preciousness of a block that is virtually 100% single family.
uh the only thing i think i have to uh bring up is is one um aspect that um um member gaston was
challenge you challenged me last time on on the slice of life decision because it was um before
or it was under the municipality's planning code
and not under our code.
And you were correct.
So what I wanna say about that is that
we're not relying on it because it doesn't apply,
it's specific holding doesn't apply.
What does apply though is the findings
and that's on 187.
oh i thought i had the right number but it looks like i'm a little off
So this, where do I find it?
Okay, here it is.
So what we're citing this decision for
is its findings and its reference of many other
um cases including um the village of euclid case which is the the mother of all zoning decisions
that um that um that basically defines the the harm that can that can come from short-term
tenants being being brought into a stable and thriving single-family neighborhood
what the court said um is that there's been a long recognized goal of creating residential zoning
districts and short-term tenants have little interest in public agencies or in the welfare of
the citizenry they do not participate in local government coach little league or join the hospital
guild they do not lead a scout troop volunteer at the library or keep an eye on an elderly neighbor
literally they are here today and gone tomorrow without engaging in the sort of activities
that weld and strengthen a community the permanence and stability of people living in
single-family residential zoning districts creates a sense of community cultivates and
fosters relationships and provides an overall quality of a place where people are invested
and engaged in their neighborhood and care about each other this is a place where children can
play together neighbors can know each other and look out for one another and people can enjoy the
quiet seclusion of their homes so we believe that those findings from from those courts show you
that there is a specific danger here in in what and what this is in what is being proposed and
the burden then shifts to to the applicant to tell you how all of the crazy things that he has said
are going to be happening in this building are not going to destroy this neighborhood
where it's very clear to us that this is a destruction waiting to happen
if you make the decision to go forward with this.
Is that your case?
um um meredith do you um want to do uh where do you where do we stand what do you want to do here
i'm sorry councilwoman guardia wants to testify she on the phone i believe she is okay well
we'll we'll take that out of order we'll bring her on okay but we're going to have to come back to
okay we see the councilwoman on phone they're being promoted to panel share thank you
Thank you.
Thank you.
good morning good morning could you please state your name it's spelled for the stenographer
sure thing council member jamie gaudier j-a-m-i-e g-a-u-t-h-i-e-r do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed
Good morning, and many thanks for the opportunity to speak at this hearing today.
Mr. Chair and members of the board, I'm here today to ask that you deny this special exception
application. If approved, this would lead to a multitude of detrimental impacts on the health,
safety, and welfare of this neighborhood. This application is an extreme example of land
overcrowding street congestion and disproportionately burdening public infrastructure not built to
sustain this type of occupancy the 4200 block of viola street is a small one-way street not even
wide enough for there to be parking on both sides of it the most common land use here is single
family housing for a parcel like this one which is actually three smaller parcels that are being
combined that would put the maximum unrelated occupancy permitted by law at nine persons
this proposal today proposes an occupancy of 50 unrelated people with no on-site staffing
this block is not built to sustain a proposal like this and it never has been further we know from
prior presentations that this applicant has no prior experience with managing a group living
building this big, nor do they intend to bring on any third-party organization to assist in its
operations. While we know that the burden of proof is different for a special exception than it is
for a variance, the applicant still must demonstrate that the use will not cause specific
detrimental impacts. Their case to the community so far has been wafer thin, which shows me that
this group living proposal was never genuine in the first place. It is unfortunately being used
as leverage against the residents of Iola Street to pressure them to support the applicant's other
vision for the property instead, which is 16 units of multifamily housing. It is regrettable
and frankly very disappointing that this applicant chooses to waste this board's time
over and over again with this attempt at a Trojan horse sort of strategy I hope
that you will deny the special exception today and I thank you again for your
time murder if you have any questions for the councilman no okay
Meredith, you want to have, where are you going to be with this now?
So I guess I just, I think I have a question for Mr. Masters first, just so that I can better frame my response to the board.
Is he intending to bring up any members of the community? Because I would prefer not to respond twice if there's going to be more testimony offered.
Well, whether or not he brings it up, I'm sure that they're going to come up and make comments when I get to them.
I do have Mr. Jihad Ali. I've submitted a statement from him, and he wanted to testify. He's the adjacent neighbor to this property.
and we also have a letter from state senator vincent hughes that i wanted to bring to the
board's attention yeah we have it i uh we have both okay we both have both all right so i mean
i i guess i can i i can bring german up to respond specifically uh to mr master's presentation
um and and then we can go from there if that is the board's preference where we'd be then we'd
eventually up to the public comments. Okay. I'm sorry, Mr.
Chairman, I couldn't hear you. What did you say? I said what
we'll do is after that, we'll get the public comments. Okay.
So sounds good. The administrator could look for Mr. Yacoubouf.
Administrator could look for Mr. Yakubov.
They're being promoted to panelists.
Hello?
Good morning.
That's not...
Yeah, that's not German.
Do we see him?
They're promoted.
They have done.
Yeah, we can.
Could you please state your name as well for this thermographer?
German Yacobo.
G-E-R-M-A-N-Y-A-K-U-B.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Counsel?
Thank you.
German, you've been present for all of Mr. Master's presentation to the board.
Is that accurate?
I have.
Based on our presentation that we gave to the board several months ago,
was Mr. Masters' characterization of the use
that was presented to the board accurate
or consistent with the information that we presented
to the board or with your intent for the property?
No to all of the above.
One, Mr. Masters read the transcript into the record,
and in many occasions he misread it into the record.
So there would be a lot of times where if you would line up
the transcript if he was submitted as an exhibit to the transcript that was created as a result of
his narration there would be clear misspeakings or misreadings and a lot of times misattributions to
to quotes furthermore he is the one that has created this straw man of a tenant that we will
have. To the contrary, our definition of the people that would be our potential tenants is
quite broad. And I didn't say that any of the people that he or the neighbors have suggested
would be tenants. I'd say we'd have to look at it a case-by-case basis. It was never going to be a
transitional facility. Everybody's definition of, I guess, transitional living is different.
anybody living in an apartment is transitional um because they have a month-to-month lease
so and and this is what this would be it would be a month-to-month lease for anybody that wants to
stay there um furthermore there were clear questions that were either classist or racist or
a myriad of other um suggestions that wanted me to to bait uh into responding to who would we allow
and not allow into this building.
Ultimately, I'm the one that has to manage the building.
So I have to be able to be okay
with anybody that would be in it.
We've managed hundreds of apartments.
We've managed, I would say,
at least eight group living facilities
like Mr. Masters has read into the record
for at least a decade.
A lot of those tenants were students,
not always were they the case.
They were roommates.
And that's what this is going to be.
This is going to be a big building
with a lot of roommates in it.
by Mr. Masters' definition of a single family, the neighbors would have no problem with the
Manson family living next door as long as they were all related. I'm objecting to that. That's
ridiculous. So I think we want to move on from that. I don't think that's necessary.
Okay. I can move on. So generally speaking, German, if we assume that just for purposes
of this argument that everything that was stated during the rco meeting uh was accurate which of
course we've disputed it is is everything presented during an rco meeting and is the
discussion had during an rco meeting meant to be firm and absolute objection you're that's a leading
question and that's not proper this is redirect of my client so it's not proper to do a leading
question of your witness continue with the question german in your experience as a real
estate developer in philadelphia is the information presented during an rco meeting
meant to be firm and absolute in all cases no it's actually one of the benefits of the
No, it's actually one of the benefits of the zoning code that allows you to interact with the community prior to the zoning hearing to be able to get feedback from the community to see if your vision is aligned with theirs.
zoning code that allows you to interact with the community
So there are opportunities where the community had good feedback and that we took that feedback, like the number of people that we would be housing or, you know, it would be okay with the maximum.
And we reduced it from, I believe it was at 50 to 30 or 32.
So that was some feedback.
and as well as the design of the building, right?
A lot of people had issues
with the initial design of the building.
That's the intent of the community meetings
to get feedback that is organized
that can be then reincorporated back into our design
and represented to the board for final approval.
Mr. Masters read a statement that said that,
that inferred that it would be your intent
to rent to anybody who can afford rent.
Does that mean that you would flout any form of relevant
city or state federal regulations that might apply to leasing?
No, and the city outside of the federal level,
the city has specific questions that we can't ask,
whether it relates to criminal history,
whether it relates to eviction history,
other issues that we have to be in compliance for,
Not just things that, you know, might make the community feel safe, but also give an opportunity to protect potential citizens and potential renters that they have an opportunity for a place to live.
And it was never our intention and it's never been our practice to discriminate against anyone, both at a legal level and also at a moral and ethical level as well.
And then my final question for you, German. Mr. Masters presented on the screen and discussed
many definitions in various state codes concerning hospitals, transitional facilities, medical
facilities, drug and detox facilities. Is your intent to use 4283 Viola in any way that
that would subject it to any of the state regulations
that Mr. Masters presented today?
Not even the slightest.
The leap is tremendous in between the disparity
of what we're proposing
and the potential boogeyman tenant
that Mr. Masters has created to scare everybody.
Mr. Chairman, that is all I have for German.
I do at some point want to make
just a brief four sentence closing statement,
but i'm i'm very happy to do that at the end i would like to i would like to cross-examine german
ready to tell you to do it so just relax all right so please cross-examine sure um
german i'm looking at um the
document called memorandum of law in support of application for special exception that your attorney
finally produced for me. And I'm looking on page six. I don't have it in front of me.
I don't. Okay. Let me share the screen. I'm going to object to this, Mr. Chairman. I'm not sure what
my work product, what relevant information he's going to be asking my client about from
my legal memorandum I won't keep you in suspense for long so I'm going to allow
okay we're gonna move on from that okay okay let's look at
I don't know what is happening in there.
All right, page six.
On page six, your attorney was aiming to distinguish a personal care home and a single room residence from the proposed use that you are.
and a single room residence from the proposed use that you are claiming, which is transitional
living. I'm not claiming transitional living. You keep saying that, but that's not what we're
claiming. Transitional housing. We're not claiming that either. We're claiming that it's a group
living facility. No, that's not what she says in her file. You're asking me, but that's not
what we're claiming. We're asking for a group living use. Yes, you're asking for a specific
of a group of living use called transitional housing.
No, we're not.
We're asking for group living use.
And you're once again putting words in my mouth.
Let him get his question out.
He says here, the definition of single-room residence
is defined as a building containing
rooms rented as living quarters without private bathrooms.
Examples include dormitories, rooming houses,
and supported independent living.
You claim that you've had dormitories before.
that's not what i've claimed at all you said that you had students living in in um multiple students
that are unrelated living in the same building that's not a dormitory that is people that are
unrelated living in a house like a group are they students some are okay but dormitories are limited
to students okay let me let me return to to being the one asking the questions um this says um your
your client your attorney says here each bedroom has a private bathroom further this is a group
transitional home that does not contemplate the payment of rent for individual living areas
throughout the city group transitional homes are categorized as group living and not subcategorized
as single room residences what does she mean that everyone has a private bathroom i thought that
you've testified multiple times that no one has any private anything in this building so explain
to me what you mean by a private bathroom each room has a private bathroom for it so if you look
at the plans the plans show private if it's four people who live like four four people live in the
room right the pod is four people up to four people and there's four bathrooms four bathrooms
in each pod yes that's not that's not that's not on the plans there are 16 bathrooms in the building
there are 16 bathrooms in the building and you're saying that four of them are in each pod
yes there are four how does someone so are you saying that these bathrooms are
are able to be locked and secured by one person only?
I don't know if that's what private means.
What does it mean to you?
Well, I don't know what it means to me,
but it's private means that somebody is using the bathroom privately at the
same time. And there's a bedroom per bathroom.
So your definition of private bathroom is that,
that only one person can be in the bathroom at a time.
That's not what I said. I said, there are,
there's a one bedroom and there's there are 16 rooms and there are 16 bathrooms there are 16
sleeping rooms and there are 16 bathrooms there are 16 pods right there are 16 rooms where people
sleep right and there are four which is here is in each room up to four people yeah up to four
people so when you were when you're proposing 50 people how are you supposed to get 50 people if
you don't have four four of them but that's not the definition is here it says there each bedroom
has a private bathroom it doesn't say each person has a private bathroom
what's it so if each person doesn't have a private bathroom who has the private bathroom
the person doesn't have to have a private bathroom the bedroom has the private bathroom it says
they're in clear black and white here each bedroom has a private bathroom we have 16 bedrooms we have
16 bathrooms okay so basically you are contradicting your attorney and you're basically telling me
literally reading what my attorney is saying my attorney is saying that each bedroom has a private
bathroom whoa whoa comment down here let's get back focused i think you've made your point okay
about bathrooms he has a different view of you so why don't we just move on from that
all right page 10
on page 10 your attorney wrote that group living is an inherently appropriate use and is consistent
with surrounding residential multifamily nature of the area multifamily use of the blocks existing
structures is common isn't she talking about um the the property that you have on
Isn't she talking about the property that you have on East Parkside?
She's not talking about Viola Street.
She's literally listing every single property on Viola Street in the next sentence down.
You're once again muddying the record by putting words in my mouth, in Meredith's mouth,
and in general creating an argument that doesn't exist.
Come on. Pay attention here. Go ahead.
All right. So we showed we showed three pages of single family dwellings, and you're saying that that these few dwellings on on this block of Viola Street mean that it's a multifamily block. Is that your is that your position?
it's not my position that's what my attorney wrote but i don't know if that list is exhaustive
further she's listed every other property that's within five feet away of this one
on one block over that has tons of properties that are multi-family use
german german do you deny that at the at the rco meeting um you repeatedly said
when asked that you could not identify one single person who would not be permitted to live in your
in your building i don't deny that you're denying that i do not deny that okay you don't deny it
you so and and you agree that multiple neighbors tried to get you to be clear and to and to and to
have at least some basis for understanding who could live in your building and who would not be
welcome. The neighbors wanted me to answer questions that were suggestive of both racism,
classism, xenophobia, and a myriad of other things that I refuse to engage in.
Do you have any concern whatsoever for children who are going to be living in your building and
who may be exposed to to all kinds of of dangers and and terrible situations do i have any concern
for children the children's have parents do these children have parents you're telling me that there
are people who are going to be living in your building you you said you didn't think they were
going to be right because i said i said because the amount that it costs to stay there would be
significantly impractical for anybody with a child that can afford to stay here but would
rather have a single one-bedroom apartment they would rather live in the one-bedroom apartment
that was my testimony and that's what i said but if they that's what you read into the record
and if a child if a child accompanies a parent and sleeps in the same bed as that parent
why would they why would they incur an additional rental charge well because that's not what that's
not what we've offered that's never what we've testified to is what would happen we never said
that we were going to have children sleeping in the same beds as their parents once again
you are creating boogeyman arguments to scare everybody and you're telling me that if someone
has like a are flunging you creating far-flung arguments and you want me to create whatever it
is if someone just just take a break here a minute let's get back question answer and that's
Okay. If someone has a young child, a infant, a toddler, you're going to charge them separate
rent and you think they're going to be sleeping in a separate room? You're implying that we would
rent to them, right? So I don't know what that person would qualify for. I don't know if that
person would even be able to rent an apartment. I don't know if they have good credit. I don't
know if they have criminal back. I don't know what it is, right? So once again, you're creating
scenarios that are far flung that have might never been in practice to make for me to make
a decision for me to smear me in some kind of way. And I just won't engage.
Are you saying that it's a far flung suggestion that people have babies and that they want to
keep their baby with them when they live in a building?
My far flung suggestion is that you are suggesting that that person would be a tenant.
And I don't know if they would or they wouldn't. I also don't know if they would be able to
qualify i don't know if we will be able to deny them for a myriad of reasons i don't know if
we're able to exclude families or not exclude families right so there's there's a myriad of
assumptions that you want me to assume and answer that i just won't engage in i don't have it once
again it's irrelevant we're asking for a group that you're done you're done thank you um i think
we go now to uh well questions from the board
yeah um so we know that this is a special exception case
um i just i'm just trying to wrap my brain around uh the impact uh that you
think that this project will have on a block that's
Project will have on a block. That's primarily single family. Um, so are you professing that there will be no impact number of, um, of people infused in a single family home and a single family block? Primarily?
primarily single family um so are you
Is that your argument? Yes. Okay. And, and board member, if I can just also respond. It is the evidence that we presented shows that it's not a primarily single family.
block. And the document that's up on the screen is very clear evidence of the context of this
particular block. Yeah, I noticed that there are some multifamilies, but for the most part,
you know, it's a majority single family. So, okay, so you're saying that infusion of this
amount of people in one home will not make any impact, have any kind of impact, whether it's
judgment or not I'm just sure so I don't impact at all and I'm like for real well hold on if we
were to build there are three lots here if we were to build three six-bedroom six-bedroom houses
which a lot of those houses are right that's 18 bedrooms if each one of those bedrooms had two
people and it's 36 people and we were fine was said you're right 50 people is a lot we're fine
with reducing it down to 30 right and that was the feedback we got from the neighbors okay thank
you any other questions from the board yes okay i want to get to just what the requirements are
in terms of the proofs that are being offered here so let me make sure i'm understanding
what's being requested here um you are asking to put um 50 people in this facility is that correct
it's it's a building as let me say as many as 50 people right and we were fine with reducing
that down to 30 and it's a building correct there wouldn't it's not a facility well okay
right okay so the criteria that you have to show to get a special exception include
traffic, that there's not going to be any congestion in the public streets or the public
transit systems. So are you saying that having 50 transient people in this neighborhood is
not going to cause any traffic congestion or congestion in the public streets or with
respect to public transit facilities is that your testimony well i think there's more to that than
just this would create that i think it would be no i'm sorry well it's asking you
the question is is is that your testimony you are basically saying
that there will be no effect is that no more of an effect than if it was a single family home that
was there for three on three different lots that would be at least six bedrooms big as as the other
ones are there will be no no more so than that okay all right so then the next one is density
an overcrowding of the land are you saying is is it your testimony and this is just just based on
what you're saying that there this this proposal that you have would not cause any overcrowding
of the land is that your testimony no more so than three single family i'm asking you
is it your testimony that this will not cause an overcrowding of the land? That's correct.
Or no. It will not cause any overcrowding. Okay, fine. Then the next one is about light
and air. Is this going to affect the natural light and air to adjacent properties?
It won't. This building is smaller than the other ones. It occupies 66% of the property when we're allowed to go up to 75. It's 38 feet tall, and it's fully detached. So you can walk all the way around the entire building. It's got a large backyard, so it will not affect anything.
Okay. And then public facilities. Is it your testimony that this use will not cause any undue
Will not cause any undue burden on water, sewer, schools, parks, or other public services.
That's correct.
And you're saying this based on what?
I'm saying this based on the fact that this neighborhood has had at least 70 homes demolished.
in the area not only that they ran a brand new water line and sewer two years ago in the street
the largest park in philadelphia is across the street from this property um there are countless
public transportation um routes available within walking distance so i don't think any of that
would be overcrowded and it's sitting on vacant land where houses used to be on let's that be
countless i i can't count but there's at least a half a dozen public transportation buses
trolleys uh you name it okay so six is not countless right okay anyway all right so then
the next one is about impairment, permanent impairment to the use of adjacent conforming
properties. Is it your testimony that having this many transient people in a neighborhood
here where, even if you want to say that there are other multifamily uses, there are none with 50, up to 50, that was the testimony, up to 50 people, transient people in this neighborhood.
Can you repeat that? I'm sorry.
the question is one of the one of the criteria that you have the burden of proving is that there
won't be any permanent impairment to the use of adjacent conforming properties by this use that
you're proposing so if you know what impairment is it means that it causes a harm to the use of
adjacent conforming properties no and I would say I don't think this is non-conforming it's a
it's a it's only use allowed say non-conforming I said it causes harm to adjacent conforming
properties, i.e. that conform with the code or whatever permissions may have been granted.
Yeah, I don't think this does.
And that's your testimony.
That's correct.
All right.
And then there's no danger to the general health, welfare, and safety of the surrounding community.
None whatsoever.
testimony okay all right all right and then uh this is consistent and we're not in conflict with
the spirit of the zoning code and the city's comprehensive plan that not not at all that's why
it's a special exemption and not a variance or refusal special exception it is but okay all right
And just with respect to board member Gaston, I just want to make sure that the proper standard is being applied here.
Our memo of law provides reference to various cases that note that our obligation with regard to the specific detrimental impacts that the board member just took German through is not actually technically triggered based on case law until an objective produces its own non-speculative
objective evidence that the proposal is likely to cause harms. And with all due respect, that has not been done.
I'd like to differ with you. You have a burden. With special exception cases, there's a shifting burden.
The person requesting a special exception has to show that they are, they meet the objective criteria that I mentioned, okay?
Understood.
And after that, the burden shifts to anyone objecting to it, and their burdens are different. Their burdens are the ones that we've talked about before with the, which is, what is it?
That the burden shifts to any one objective.
It's too, and it's, they're speculative.
It's the detriment to health, safety, and welfare,
which is part of what the objectors have to prove, okay?
And that is not supposed to be speculative.
There's supposed to be some kind of idea
that this is something that really could happen as opposed to what might be imagined could happen.
So again, I don't agree with you about the case law.
Understood, board member. Like I said, our memo of law has several references to
cases that make it clear that there is a discrepancy between the Philadelphia Code and
way that courts generally apply these cases but with that said with that said we we do submit
our code is different okay and so if what you're referencing just like i said to mr masters
if what you're referencing is some other codes that do not apply here then the standards are
different that's not totally agree with you that the standards for a special exception in other
parts of the state may be different than what we have here all right questions for our attorney
none at this time all right um questions from the virtual audience but we'll start here first
okay anyone here want to make comments oh i i need my testimony to be adopted um
yeah i'll i'll take care of that for you look why don't we just anyone want to make comments
in the audience here. Come on up, please. Mr. Chairman, before he has his testimony adopted,
since he's going to have his client up there, for the purposes of the record, I do need to
levy a standing objection. Viola Street Residents Association is no longer an RCO registered for
this property. So for purposes of the record here, I do need to levy a standing objection.
This was not the case when this case first started, but based on the current registration of RCOs, Viola Street Residence Association, Mr. Master's Client, is no longer a registered RCO for this property.
Thank you very much, but it's so hard to have testimony from the public that wants to come up.
I think that's on.
Good morning.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Joyce Smith, J-O-Y-C-E-S-M-I-T-H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Okay, so let me start out. Are you in favor of this practice or against?
I'm against it.
Okay. We've had a great deal of testimony. I mean, and you, you know, several meetings. Is there anything that you can mention that we haven't heard yet?
Go ahead.
Okay, first of all, I hadn't planned to testify at all.
I hadn't planned to testify at all.
sure okay but listening to um the applicant's um perspective or his testimony i i have no choice but
to i have no choice but to speak um first of all the site uh used to sit uh two two um
residential homes they did not have six rooms because they were not even though they're on
historical side they did not have six bedrooms secondly i live on the block sure the majority
of the properties or homes on the block are single family i walked up and down the street
to confirm that we do have apartments we do have apartments in the larger homes three maximum
i can definitely tell you this project will have a negative impact on the quality of our lives
Also, there's accelerated density going in that immediate area right behind this site, six family homes, six single family homes on the 4,200 block of Parkside, and some of them were duplex.
50 apartments are now going right, almost right in back, right back of these, this project.
There are other proposed projects right in this really small area.
The density that is being exacerbated in our neighborhood and in this particular area by this developer is...
And in this particular area by this particular by this developer is going to definitely impact our lives.
The density, the traffic, the congestion.
I don't even know how we're going to live like that.
So there's more I can say, but I'm going to let it go with the issue.
Is this your client? Yes.
Would you, could you, why don't you get your testimony adopted while we're doing this? Sure.
um choice can you um were you did you listen to my testimony earlier today and in the prior
hearings that we've had on this case yes for everyone and do you agree that it was true and
accurate and do you adopt it as your own yes um can you also um explain whether um another
organization has taken over the the rco status for this project yes centennial parkside cdc who
we work with we we work together uh there are the three rcos in our neighborhood we all work
together and support one another and at this point am i going to be um now representing that
that entity in in in this case yes okay i don't know if you have any questions to this client
yeah uh i i have i think one question for miss smith um miss smith um are you familiar with
uh a fundraiser that was started for the violet street residents association uh concerning this
particular property yes to to uh to raise funds for legal counsel yes okay i just want to share
one thing, and then I can, this is for rebuttal purposes, and I can submit this to the board
after the fact. So does this look like a printout of the website of the description of the
fundraiser? It says, help Viola Street residents defend our neighborhood. The Viola Street
Residents Association is rating $30,000. Does this look like the fundraiser?
i'm going to object that this has nothing to do with miss smith's testimony so what's the relevance
here why don't we do this let's let's let her answer the question if she can right yes yeah
so um and do you see here where it says the east parkside community is already saturated with a
sizable number of group living residences on surrounding blocks you see where it says states
that yes so my question is you've made some some statements here about the impact that you believe
that this particular group living facility is going to cause but the standard for a special
exception is not whether it's going to cause impact it's whether it's going to cause impact
beyond what another group living facility would cause so what what is it that you believe about
this specific group living facility that is going to cause significantly more harm than the other
group living residences that exist in your community already? I'm objecting to the question
because it assumes facts that are actually false. We don't have to, as objectors,
argue the the basis of of the impact of various terrible or or not so terrible or mostly terrible
group living situations in in this neighborhood we we we have used the words of mr jakubov himself
who has who has confirmed that anyone who's who who moves into that facility is going to be at
risk themselves we don't even we're not even talking about the neighbors we're talking about
people who are innocent who are going to be there okay i think she can answer that question as to
why she thinks this is okay why do you why don't you answer that question why you are concerned
about this particular project if you go if you look on the 4200 block of viola street yeah you
will see it's not suitable for a large facility like that the other facilities are on gerard
avenue yep that is really a wide street a really a wide street viola is a small narrow one-sided
parking block all right thank you for your answer meredith anything else nothing further okay uh
questions or comments from the virtual audience hi chair we have a hand up from mark harris
what happened to me shit oh wait jihad you you're you're you're you're you're not muted um
jihad come on
maybe mr um ali should should speak because he because he was i got it yeah
okay hello can you hear me yes i can could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
yes sir uh good morning i'm jihad ali j-i-h-a-d-a-l-i i live at 4276 parkside avenue which
is in arterial street which is a large street directly wait wait wait wait before you do you
swear or affirm the tell the truth told you nothing but truth yes i do all right please
proceed with your testimony i live directly uh behind the property uh that we're here today
about my written opposition is in the record reference 6061 i'll use my time on one legal
issue yeah i have your i we saw your letter too thank you yeah the boy's first task is determine
which this which use this actually is the applicant's own testimony today has answered it
under section 14-601 2b.2 a building containing rooms rented as living quarters without private
bathrooms is a single room residence the code's own examples dormitories room and houses and
supported independent living the witness testified in both elements one occupants pay fifty dollars
$500 per bed, multiple people per room, rooms rented as living quarters. The rental unit is
the bed. Two, 16 bathrooms for 50 people. 50 individual rented beds cannot each have a private
bathroom with 16 in the building. Even a bathroom attached to a room is shared among the strangers
renting beds in that room. No renter of a bed has a private bathroom. That is a rooming house by
applicants own numbers under table 14-602-1 single room residence is expressly prohibited in RSA 5
not special exception prohibited the same table permits it by special exception RM RM and RMX
districts so council knew how to allow it where it wanted it to have here it chose no the board
cannot grant a special exception for a prohibited use the applicant's remedy would be a use variance
which is not before you and this zoning was deliberate bill 140076 passed may 2014 i have
a certified cabbie re copy it remapped those exact blocks from rm1 where this use could at least
be sought to rs could be sought 12 to rsa 5 where it is prohibited granting this application application
would reverse council's judgment from this block about this block at minimum the applicant bears
the burden on a special exception and its own testimony describes a use other than the one it
applied for. On this record, it has not carried that burden. Finally, if the board reaches a
special exception criteria, 50 beds at $500 each is a $25,000 a month rooming operation at three
plus occupants per bathroom in a row house district council downsize. The record including
a district council member and Senator Hughes' office reflects this determined. I ask the board
to deny this application. Thank you. Thank you very much. Hold on. Meredith, you have any questions?
I do. Mr. Ali, are you an attorney? No, I'm not. Are you a licensed planner? No, I'm not.
Do you have any educational or professional background that would give you any? I'm objecting
that a witness and a member of the community doesn't have to put up with questioning their
their their viability as as a as someone who thinks and and and can can express themselves
he provided a legal argument well listen to me
i'm going to let him answer the question i think he has the ability to answer the question
do you have any form of professional or educational background that would give you
special credentials to be able to interpret the zoning code or provide a legal argument to this
four no i don't that's all i have all right thank you redirect um mr ali are you able to count 50
and and and um the number of bathrooms and the number of people and and calculate whether there
is one-to-one ratio or not yes i can thank you thank you so we're we're now gonna how many other
people here want to testify all right two okay i could you please state your name is bell for this
thought my name is jean allen j-e-a-n-a-l-l-e-n right you swear or affirm to tell the truth the
whole truth nothing but the truth i do now you've known we've had quite a bit of testimony over
several months i'm going to ask one thing are you in favor of this project or against i am against
it okay and I just want to make one comment as a common ordinary mom
mom, grandma, great grandmother. And I just want to beg this council to make a decision today.
grandma great-grandmother and I just want to beg this
Today, we've been laboring this thing for more than a year. It's torturous. It's unfair, uncruel
punishment. One thing I try to do is try to move it along. So thank you very much. Is there anyone
else here wants to make it hold on hold on hold on um merdith you want to answer that answer any
questions relative to her thinking this has been torturous i i i don't think i'm going to do that
good morning sir could you please state your name is spelled for the sonographer yes my name is
randy smith oh yeah i gotta go really close randy smith all right could you spell for the
r-a-n-d-y smith smith do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes are you a neighbor yes are you in favor of this project or against i'm a gangster thank you
very much for your comments we appreciate it but i would just like to make one comment but is the
comment something we haven't already heard no go ahead well like you said we have been almost a year
coming to you guys to this board and i hope that you look at this we are seniors we had to hire
lawyer pair our pocket and i hope that you don't allow something like this to happen again
where taxpayers, seniors, have to pay for a lawyer
and to be a face with developers like this.
Let's not waste taxpayers' money for developers like this man.
All right. Thank you very much.
Do you have any, Meredith, do you have any questions?
I do not.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
do we see share share we have a mark harris with his hand raised they're allowed to speak
okay yeah my name is mark harris i mean okay hold on hold on mr could you please state your name
and spell it for the stenographer mark america harris yes right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i affirm i'm strongly opposed i do not have any
new testament game all right thank you very much meredith you have any questions
mr harris where do you live i live in cathedral park and we're suffering similar problems from
this developer okay that that's all i have okay anyone else in the virtual audience yes chair we
have a hand up from brian harris they're allowing me how many more hands do you have just one okay
thank you. Good morning. Good morning, Brian Harris here. Hi, good morning. Could you please
state your name and spell it for the stenographer? Brian Harris, B-R-Y-A-N-H-A-R-R-I-S.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Okay. Are you in favor of this proctor or against?
i'm against and are you a neighbor i am okay thank you very much any questions for anybody
he's also a community leader okay um mr mr harris can you just tell us what your
what your um leadership is in the in the community uh i'm i'm the rco chair for
east parkside residents association okay thank you we appreciate that martha do you have any
questions no i do not no more hands chair we have a hand that went up from a lorraine gomez okay
they're allowed to speak good morning could you please state your name and spell for the
stenographer yes um my name is lorraine l-o-r-r-a-i-n-e last name is gomez g-o-m-e-z
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do are you a neighbor yes i am a long time resident are you for or against this project
i am against the project thank you for taking the time to call so we appreciate it is there
any other hands no further hands at this time chair um hillary should we uh marina says she
has a four sentence closure. Do we take that and Steve, can you give us that? Why don't we do that
Do we take that? And Steve, can you give us that? Why don't we do that? And then we'll go to planning or do you want to go to planning first?
and then we'll go to planning?
All right, planning.
Madison Matera, Planning Commission staff.
A comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from RSA 5 residential single family to RM1 residential multifamily.
The city rezoned this property from RM1 to RSA 5 in 2014 in a community-supported map change.
under arm one zoning they would be allowed nine units with up to three unrelated people allowed
per unit the request for 50 occupants represents a significant overuse of the property it has been
demonstrated that the proposal will cause detrimental impacts beyond what might normally
be expected city planning commission recommends that the board deny the proposed special exception
for group living at this location okay um maritas why don't we um start with you thank you mr chairman
I don't intend to repeat the significant amount of testimony or legal argument that was given
during the hearing several months ago, but I did again just want to remind the board that
a special exception is not intended to be special, nor is it intended to be an exception to the code.
It is a permitted use, and the testimony and evidence that was offered established that this
This particular use is one that fits within the definitions of the zoning code.
The zoning board is bound to apply the definitions of the Philadelphia zoning code and no other
definitions under any other state or federal or any other municipal codes that do not apply
in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia zoning code is quite clear that where a use cannot cleanly fit within
one specific definition that L&I and this board are tasked with determining whether that use best
fits within one or more categories. And we believe that the testimony that was offered made it
extremely clear that the proposed use meets the definition of a group living use. And furthermore,
for the board to deny a special exception on the basis of any purported detrimental impact,
In fact, the objectors must have demonstrated that it would create specific hazards not
normally generated by other permitted group living uses with a great likelihood.
As I noted, I have submitted a memorandum of law to this board that contains a significant
listing of recent Pennsylvania special exception cases that established that the only successful
denials or overturn special exceptions are for highly noxious uses. The objectors here did not
meet their burden. They did not present any form of credible, non-speculative evidence. They did
not present any expert witnesses that would rise to the level of establishing a high degree of
harm that is required for a zoning board to deny a special exception. Thank you. That's all I have.
all right Steve so yes it's true we didn't provide any um expert witnesses because we had the words
of the applicant himself who established beyond a reasonable doubt that this use would be terribly
uh dangerous first for the people who are in that who are living in that facility they would be at
at the highest risk of danger,
plus the incredible impacts that this will have
on this single-family, a majority single-family block.
But in addition, and as Mr. Ali testified to,
and my cross-examination of Mr. Yakubov focused on also,
there has to be private bathrooms provided
in this facility for it to qualify as group living and not as single room occupancy.
There are up to 50 people and only 14 bathrooms or 16 bathrooms. That establishes that this
should be a variance case, not a special exception case. So they haven't been able to establish that
this is even properly before you as a special exception not only that but the transcript the
the the damning transcript that was that was read to you by by me um with with no
there was attempts over and over again by the community to help this developer come up with
some kind of a protocol and some kind of a process that would be safe and would be appropriate.
that would be safe and would be appropriate for a building with this kind of a use.
But over and over again, he answered the questions in ways that were alarming and that were dangerous.
And he himself established that this use will be quite a bit more harmful and dangerous than any typical use for group living,
simply because there will be no one there who can address any issues that that happen in in this in
this building and there is no reason why he why there's a reason why all virtually all group living
situations have to have something like that especially when you have that number that density
number so um the the applicant has not met their burden we have met our burden to the extent that
we were able to to demonstrate to you that what they what they promised will and what they want
to deliver will be a disaster for both the the member the the people who live there and the and
the surrounding neighbors thank you very much uh i want to thank both attorneys for this long
lengthy process i want to thank also the neighbors who had a great deal of interest in it so mi20
24 006 832 4283 viola street i vote no charlotte gaston my vote is no tenetta graham my vote is no
Ryan McAdams, my vote is no.
Taya Nguyen, my vote is no.
Thank you, Terry Nguyen.
Thank you.
Everybody shut their mics off.
Thank you.
Thank you.