Okay, I'm just done.
Hi. Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
My name, can you hear me?
Yes, I can.
Okay, my name is Gray, last name, G-R-A-B-E. First name is Thomas.
Should I proceed?
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, sir?
Proceed.
I've been a resident right up the street on Rittenhouse Street for almost 55 years.
I was one of the original gardeners that set the garden up at the suggestion of Mastery,
as they said back in 2007. I'm very disappointed. I've had interaction in terms of comments and
passing remarks about expanding the playing field northwest, which means it's going to go
towards the garden. And there is no way that the garden is not going to be disrupted
for at least a year and if not two years. And that's a very valuable community resource.
Over two tons of food is produced, half of which goes to the crisis ministry at Germantown
and Shelton Avenue, a food distribution program.
And the argument I have presented internally and in person,
expanding the garden into the parking lot.
And it makes much more sense.
It is a cheaper alternative.
There is an existing retaining wall,
which i don't understand why there's any interest in in not using all right i i'm this is this is
valuable time for you and everyone i'm requesting a continuance i would like you to refer this back
to the community to assure that the existing parameters of the garden be maintained and
whatever expansion they want they take it into the parking lot they have over 150 parking spaces
off-site behind Planet Fitness and the, and the Einstein Clinic. And, and that's, that's my request
that there'd be a continuous. I hear your comments. I'm going to continue with taking comments
from other people first before I roll on that. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for your time and calling in.
Thank you for your time and calling in. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
Yes, sir.
Renee Porter Sanders with her hand raised.
I've allowed them to speak.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Hello.
Can you hear me?
I can.
Thank you.
My name is Renee Porter Sanders. That is R-E-N-E-E-P-O-R-T-E-R hyphen S-A-N-D-E-R-S.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Christine, ma'am, are you a neighbor?
I am actually here in the capacity of a parent leader of the Mastery Parent Action Team.
I am here appearing before the board today to give my full support of the renovation of this athletic field.
I wanted to express my full support of this renovation because this will be a value added addition to this institution and to the Germantown community.
I am asking the zoning board to consider approving the go ahead of this renovation project.
The students at Pickett will be greatly impacted in a positive way by providing a safe space and place to have physical education outside and to support the athletic organizations of Mastery Pickett to perform at their absolute best.
Thank you for your time.
Now, thank you for taking the time to call in. We appreciate your input. Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, Sarah Bond, Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
The proposed fence height is commensurate with existing use.
The proposed variance for slope disturbance is minimal and does not conflict with the purpose or spirit of the zoning code.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the zoning board grant the variance.
Thank you very much.
So MI 2022, 003-316-5700 Wayne Avenue, I vote yes with proviso.
Revised plans, two pages, stamped by ZBA on April 19, 2023.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes with provisos.
James Snell, my vote is yes with provisos.
Ishmael Shaheib, my vote is yes with provisals.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 930 case has not been called?
Mr. Chair, I do not see any hands.
All right.
Thanks, everyone.
See everyone at 2 p.m.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's EBA hearings.
With me is Thomas Holliman, our board member.
Member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
James Snell, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
We will be shortly joined also by our vice chair, Ismail Shahid.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's our virtual format. Be advised, proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contacting TanyaSunkett at phila.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographers, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548. Leave your email address and the
property in question. And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments
or testimony. Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at the continuances we have for this afternoon. Number four, MI 2022-007-248-2441
Montrose Street. That case is continued. Number six, MI 2022-006-991-559 Ryder Street. That case
is continued. And number 11, MI2022-007-453-301-23 Spring Garden Street, that case is continued.
301 to 23 Spring Garden Street, that case is continued. Is there anyone who has comments relative to any of those three cases?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. This is Jason Hand. I do not see any hands at this time.
Thank you very much. We're going to go to, is there any other requests for continuances?
once again no hands raised at this time sir thank you we're going to go to our add-on list
number one on our add-on list mi 2022 006 904 7353 oxford avenue
I vote yes with provisos. Temporary variance for personal vehicle repair and maintenance use, expiring 5-1-25, and tires must be stored indoors.
Tom, James, James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso, Tom.
One minute.
are you back on okay hold on a minute mr howlin's having a hard time with his internet
I don't know.
Mr. Hallman is calling in on his phone.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We'll be one to you in one minute.
Mr. Chair, I have a hand raised from someone
with the number ending in 9176.
must be him
let's see if that's Mr. Holloman
Mr. Chairman
yes sir
can you hear me Mr. Chairman
so Tom we took the first one
in the Adelan
and that was
7353 Oxford Avenue
I voted yes with temporary proviso, temporary variance for personal vehicle repair and maintenance use expiring 5-1-25, and tires must be stored indoors.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
And we already had Mr. Snells.
And we already had Mr. Snell's.
Number two for our add-on.
Number two for our add-on.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Chairman, it's for Tanya.
Can we promote him so that he can be on the panel?
Most certainly, please.
Thank you.
Because he's on the phone, we cannot promote him to panelists.
Right.
Understood.
Can he get the...
Zoom on his phone?
Yeah, I'm still on the phone.
Tom, can you get Zoom on that?
I don't think so.
Okay, we'll try to make it work.
Okay, we okay, Tanya, to go on?
We'll try to make it work.
You can go ahead, Chair.
Thank you, Tanya.
So number two on the add-on list, MI 2021-005-024-1776, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Stell, my vote is yes.
I'm going to go to our regular list.
I'm going to start with number eight. MI 2022-007-250-1732 Catherine Street.
Jameen B. Shaw is the owner applicant. It's a pro se. Letter of deferral from Councilman Johnson.
letter of deferral
from South of South
Neighbor Association.
Ms. Shaw.
Mr. Chair,
they have been promoted to panelists.
They will be rejoining shortly.
Okay, thank you.
hello chair bergman can you hear me how are you could you state your name please and spell for
the court reporter absolutely my name is jamin shah j-a-i-m-i-n last name is shah s-h-a-h
you swear or for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
I do. Okay. Have you provided all appropriate materials to the zoning board five days in
advance? I have with one update that was provided. Councilman Kenyatta Johnson's letter of deferral
was added. Okay. Sure. Okay. So this application is for new interior parking space accessory
to the existing single family household living. Size and location as shown on the plans.
There's one use referral. Off-street parking should not be provided for any one-family or two-family use located in a residential parking control area, except for parking assessed by shared driveway or rear alley, which is permitted but not required. The proposed access from the main street is not allowed. Could you please share your screen with your materials?
all right cat
thank you green button on the bottom green button yep uh give me one second to find the
right materials and then i will share coming up
okay i see you mitchash why don't you start great tell us what you're trying to do
so let me just give me one second here sir uh so good afternoon and thank you to the chair and the
members of the board for your time my name is jamin shah and i'm the owner and applicant for
the project at 1732 catherine my wife and i are longtime residents at 1734 catherine the home
adjacent project and have loved living and raising our two children in graduate hospital in sasna
neighborhood our children go to school in the city my wife and i now work in the city and we
we love. During the 14 years we have lived here, we have made friends with our neighbors, both
longtime Philadelphia residents and newcomers, and have become deeply involved in the neighborhood
and the various city-based programs and institutions. We've added to the blend of
diversity in the neighborhood and have similarly benefited from being part of this community.
We purchased the adjacent and vacant property at 1732 Catherine with the hopes of merging the
homes into our, quote, forever home, thereby continuing to live, work, and contribute to
the positive growth of the city of Philadelphia. The property of 1732 Catherine has been vacant
for over 20 years, the entire duration of our time in this neighborhood. It is a blight on a
beautiful, vibrant block here in the city, across the street from the wonderful Marion Anderson
Recreation Center. Over this time, various investors have tried and failed to make any
Over this time, various investors have tried and failed to make any viable economic use of this property.
viable economic use of this property.
I personally have been shoveling the snow, weeding in the backyard, and generally looking after the property, including by sending in requests to L&I almost every year and other agencies to deal with the rodents and raccoons that have made their way into the property.
There are clear and unique challenges with the physical structure of the property that have prevented the conversion of it into a more suitable economic purpose.
On your screen, you can see a couple of outlays and pictures.
The property that we were speaking of is the one that looks like it has a greenish gray dilapidated paint facade with temporary windows in place that were put in by prior investors.
You can see my current home just to the right of that from the street view, which has a red door and a beautiful cherry tree in front.
we took ownership of this property in november 2021 and worked quickly by mid-2022 to resolve
various make-safe issues with the city and make the property safe for the community our hope now
is to turn this property into a part of our home with a new facade that blends in seamlessly with
the neighborhood the vast majority of this block and the broader neighborhood have been renovated
within the past 15 years the project home is one of the last blighted properties remaining