half of these are vacant lots so we saw a lot of letters come back to us and but our proof of mailing
is here showing that 193 letters did go out through the mail and here's our certificate of
service of that for and our second mailing the RCO and and we agreed that we would do a
a second mailing and here's our certificate for the second mailing that went that was conducted
for this particular property and leading up to leading up to as we go through here sar
my verification of both of the rco meetings that were attended and that were conducted for this
particular case here's a tax cert and the what mrs uh ms kitchen wanted to do she's the rco lead
is to also do a petition support we went door-to-door on the north percy street and we got
um basically six more people to or five to agree to our zoning request to do this for the
and the letter from the north central rce rco showed a letter of support of the eight people
that attended between the two meetings and then only two opposed so that is our project
and at this point in time i'd like to bring on mr gazi advitson if he can be promoted
to adopt my testimony.
Mr. Adverson, please
update yourself and wait for the chair.
Could you state your name, please, and spell
for the court reporter?
My name is Kazi, G-A-Z-I.
The last name is Arasheven,
A-T-A-S-E-V-E-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, sir.
Do you see a counsel?
Yes, Mr. Adverson, have you been here
in the meeting listening to all that I've
testify to on behalf of 2126 North Percy Street? Yes. And have I left anything out or is there
anything you would add to what I've said as far as testimony concerning this zoning application?
Yeah, everything well said. Okay, and will you adopt my testimony as your own? Yes. Okay.
Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No, Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual
audience i see no hands at this time chair planning commission
thank you chair sarah bond philadelphia city planning commission s-a-r-a-h-b-a-n-h
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing residential multi-family zoning
the dimensional requirements of the zoning code do not create an economic detriment for the appellant
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Zoning Board deny the variance.
MI 2022-006-116-2126-North Percy.
I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Jane Snell, my vote is yes.
H.M.L. Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, board.
Number 10, MI 2022-006-163-5805 Worcester Street.
Michael McElhenney is the attorney.
We have a letter of support from the faith CDC and two letters of one letter of opposition
and one letter of recommendations concerning this property.
Chair, Mr. McElhenney is coming back in as a panelist now.
Chair, Mr. McElhenney is coming back in as a panelist now.
Good morning, counsel. We've already sworn you before. Could you just state your name for the record?
Yes, Michael McElhenney, M-C-I-L-H-I-N-N-E-Y.
Could you identify your client and their relationship to this property?
Yes, there are multiple owners here. The clients for this property are 5800 Worcester Street, LLC,
mazel tov development llc and point blank holdings llc these properties are jointly
owned i'm here with gary murray m-u-r-r-a-y jr as the representative for the ownership
our vice chair has a few questions for you sir good morning counsel do you agree to waive the
reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. Have you emailed all the required
documents and exhibits in our offices five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, we did have an
issue with the tax clearance, which I did provide proof of compliance yesterday. Okay, thank you.
please proceed to share your screen
thank you members of the board the on the screen is my exhibit packet for the subject property
as a matter of the prerequisites our zba appeals at exhibit 12
our photos for the property showing the zoning notices posted and also i want to reference the
actual community meeting notices were posted as requested by the local rcos our notices are at
exhibit 14 including the form that was requested by the um community organization our deeds that
are exhibit 15 and i referenced the tax clearance we had balances but we paid off all the balances
prior to today's hearing and that is in the exhibit packet as well the since we already
We went through the letter of support from the RCO.
I'll just mention that that's at Exhibit 1.
And as reference, there were multiple attendees, other RCOs that attended, and not well attended
by the community, but multiple RCOs, and we did have two meetings, one in January 26th
and one March 9th, 2023.
The refusal is Exhibit 2.
my client is seeking to relocate lot lines to create one parcel from four existing parcels
at 5805 through 5811 East Worcester Street and for the erection of an attached structure
for multifamily household living the properties are all zoned RSA 5 so the request for multifamily
use is not by right and we're requesting a variance for that use and the proposed structure
is 45 feet high whereas 35 38 feet is the by right height limit
exhibit three is an aerial view of the immediate area around the subject property
and looking to the south the top of the property of the screen the photograph
is LaSalle University and the intersection of Alniv, Chouave and Worcester Street which is a
pretty busy intersection, the main intersection. Looking at photograph two, which is a closer up
view of the same image, you can see the subject property in the middle of the screen, the vacant
lots. To the north of us, again, it's LaSalle University, apartments on the corner at the
intersection of Chu and Alany and Worcester. Behind the subject property, we have residential
houses and the bellfield ball fields to the north which is the bottom of the photo there are several
vacant lots and then row houses immediately opposite our property to the west is the four
story building for the faith canon baptist church and their grounds which is a lot of open space
and then also to the west is the shops at la salle shopping mall that includes a fresh grocer
of Rite Aid to Dunkin' Donuts and some other commercial uses. The remaining photographs,
photograph four or page three of Exhibit 3 is a view from LaSalle University just showing
the main intersection of Worcester, Chu, and Alney Avenue as well as the multiple bus stops and
lines that run along this intersection and Alonyav obviously runs closely to the Alony
Transportation Center which is a few blocks going to the east so it's a transit oriented area
major intersection where, as the RCO referenced earlier, this area needs development and it has
major intersection where as the RCO referenced earlier this
not been well attended. It's a distressed area is how the RCO referred to it. And we're hoping to
fill in some quality development here. Exhibit four is the zoning map for the property in the
area. The property itself is in the middle of the screen, zoned RSA5. To the right side, to the east,
is the special purpose zoning for the ball fields to the west the left side of the photo is rsa1
but as i just showed the board this whole property is the shops at la salle's and the
the church building so not residential uses even though it's own residential across the street
turning to photograph or exhibit five which is the site photographs for the property
the properties themselves are on the east side of east worcester they are vacant lots
in the middle of the block to the north of us there's a three-story existing building that
is designed for a commercial ground floor use based off the entryway and the large window at
the front of the property, but it's currently not occupied. Farther to the north are several
vacant lots on the north side of Nedrow Street, and on the west side of the block is that Faith
Cannon Baptist Church building and property that I referenced, the four-story building,
and also the shops at LaSalle that takes up the entire west side of the block opposite the
property and turning to page four of the exhibit five is again the site the subject property
and then to the north or to the south of subject property heading towards LaSalle
on the corner at Grange Avenue is 5779 East Worcester which is a vacant building
missing doors and windows that needs repair next to that is the yellow building it's 577 East
Worcester which is set up as a triplex but again is not currently occupied and next to those
buildings is more abandoned vacant lot. At the end of the block at Conlon Street is a beer distributor
and on the south side of that intersection is an existing duplex at 5763 East Worcester and again
on the west side the opposite side is the shops at LaSalle, the Rite Aid and Shopping. I took a
photo from that bright aid looking to the north at the subject property and the block just to show
the street parking on the property on the immediate area and just general conditions.
The plan that my client proposes is does first involve a lot consolidation. The properties are
currently four separate lots that are 16 wide by 83 feet deep, almost 84 feet deep. And the proposal
is to consolidate those properties into one property that would be 5337 square feet and as
I mentioned these are not we do not own the corner property at 5801 or 5803 these are interior lots
that we would be consolidating the zoning plan is at exhibit 7 and I'll zoom in so we can see the
general request on the plan. So starting at the front of the building, looking at the overview,
it's a proposed four-story building for 18 residential dwelling units. At the front of
the property, we do a 12-foot wide sidewalk, and then there's a five-foot setback. We are matching
the property to the north, the existing three-story building, to have that setback. In front of the
property we will have decorative planters and the front entryway will be on the corner closest to
Grange Avenue and LaSalle. The property was designed and I'll show the renderings. It's
designed to look as two separate buildings and the architect put in this little deck area to
separate break up the frontage and to create some outdoor space for some of the units.
The property itself, I'll note, has a five-foot side yard on both sides of the building.
So we brought the building in from the neighboring properties to create more light and air along the side of the buildings.
And the rear of the property has a full nine-foot rear yard plus a four-foot existing alley that creates about a 13-foot buffer between any of the residential houses that would be behind the property.
And again, farther to the east is the ball fields.
So given that those properties are to the east, the sun would be rising in the east, setting in the west.
Any shadow that this building would be casting would not be negatively affecting any of the residents around there.
The properties on the west side of the block, as I mentioned, it's the shops at LaSalle.
The properties on the west side of the block, as I mentioned, it's the shops at LaSalle, it's the back side of the shops at LaSalle, so it would have no negative effects on the neighboring properties.
It's the back side of the shops at LaSalle.
The building does have a pilot house and roof access, but no roof deck, which is one of the points the neighbors did, we discussed with the neighborhood, the RCOs at the meeting.
We do have six bicycle spaces inside the property.
And there will be accessible units as well.
So let me pull up the actual rendering so you can see what the proposal looks like.
Exhibit 8 is the renderings.
As you can see, it looks like a brick building and then to the south looks like a separate building.
It was designed that way to break up the sight lines to appear as two separate buildings, but it is one proposal.
with the idea being a brick portion and then a portion in hardy board that concrete siding to
give some a breakup in the design we do have street lighting as part of the plan and we would
be including extra lighting as needed or wanted by the community and my client generally puts
security cameras and outside lighting other features outside the property we do have the
planters in the front of the building as well as a sitting area and there is a portion for
utilities Pico Vault that has to be kept open. The ground floor does have a recessed entryway
so the first floor will end up with three units and the upper floors will have five units each
And I'll note that the five-foot setback creates ADA accessibility and also a means to take trash out.
And on the north side, we have a privacy fence just for security purposes to keep the space between the buildings secure.
Turning to the front elevation, again, as I mentioned, to the south of the building, to the right of the rendering.
We do have that ADA ingress-egress and a means to take trash in and out of the building through commercial trash pickup.
And we have that security fence on the north side of the building just to have some privacy for the residents.
On the screen now, as part of this exhibit, is the cross-section of the building.
There is a cellar, but no living space down in the cellar. It is utility area.
The first floor has three units.
Floors two through four are five residential units each.
And the first floor does have that recessed entryway.
And if I can pull up next to the actual proposed floor plans, we do have four different types of units from studios, one bedrooms and two bedrooms in the design.
The first floor has that covered entryway leading into the building.
We have the common interior space, and it has been designed with an interior space for parcels and mail, the bike storage for the residents, and interior storage, trash storage for the units, which, again, can be accessed through the side yard and taken out to the front of the street as needed through commercial trash pickup.
All of the units on the first floor are ADA accessible, and one of my client's goals here is to have those units rented to people that would need that accessibility, especially in light of being right across the street from the fresh grocer and other amenities.
It allows a person to have easy access to the grocery store and other amenities that allows them just to walk to, not have to take transit or drive.
The one bedroom unit is approximately 530 square feet and the two bedroom, two bath units on the
first floor are good size at 820 square feet. Those units do have washers, all units have
washers and dryer inside the units. Full living room, dining room, kitchen space.
Floors two through four are mirror images of each other. They replicate as we go up.
we have a studio on each floor two through four which is the smallest of the units 458 square
feet and that's one bedroom one bath and each of the upper floors has two one bedroom one bedroom
one bath units and two additional two bedroom two bath units and I'll note that there is a stair
tower in the front of the building and in the rear to allow for ingress egress in the case of
emergencies. The rear of course leads to a large rear yard and the access alley at the rear and
also we have the side yards where residents can get out to safety if necessary to escape the
building if there was ever an unforeseen circumstance. As I mentioned at the beginning
As I mentioned at the beginning, the architect did break up the front facade to create that little balcony space, and that does allow the front one-bedroom unit to have outdoor space as part of their unit.
the architect did break up the front facade to create that little balcony space.
And by pulling the property off the property line five feet, these units will have light and air window accessibility that gets those interior units, it's just more quality living space.
One thing I do want to mention is we do have a request for additional height as part of this proposal.
the floor heights end up at nine feet as designed and the community did ask about that and that's
one of the things it provides better living space inside each of the dwelling units and the
additional height as I mentioned will not have any casting any shadows on the residential houses
behind us and it should have no negative impact it should just have a positive impact in terms
of living space and desirability of living in this development. At Exhibit 9, I did include
zoning archives for these parcels. The first exhibit, first page is 5805, and I just included
this to show that the property's been a vacant lot since back in 1976. The second page of this
exhibit is for 5807. Again, it's been a vacant lot since 1976. So you're going on over 40 years of
vacantness, abandonedness. And as the other RCO mentioned, it's a little bit of a
distressed area, especially these parcels historically. At exhibit 10, I included just
historic photos of these lots looking at the the photo from 1996 the first photograph you can see
5805-07 have been vacant lots and there were deteriorating structures at 5809 and 11.
Those structures were torn down between 2004 and 2008 and they've been vacant lots
for over 15 years at this point. So again it's this is a long-standing vacant area that
is in need of development this project will bring a quality housing to a neighborhood where