Yes, I am. Thank you.
Okay, everybody's here, Chair, and we are recording.
Okay, thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing the 3.30 meeting for the ZBA hearings.
With me is Ishmael Shahid, our Board Secretary.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Thomas Holliman, our board member.
He's here.
James Snell, our board member.
Present Mr. Chairman.
Also with us is our board attorney, Hillary Emerson, and our ZBA hearing supervisor, Lakeisha Dandy.
Be advised, these proceedings are being recorded.
By participating, your knowledge agreement to be recorded.
The video will be available by contacting the Board Administrator, Tanya Sunkett, at tanyasunkett at phil.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating in my phone, if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-55488.
Leave your email address and address the property.
Lastly, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
The question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony. Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sumter.
So let's look at our continuances for this afternoon.
Number one, MI 2022, 004-549-341 East Haynes Street. That case is continued.
And number four, MI-2022-004-546-3251 Fox Street, that case is continued.
Both those cases are continued.
Does anyone have any comments relative to those cases?
Mr. Chair, I see Mr. Steve Portillo's hand raised.
I've allowed him to speak at this time.
Hi, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter?
Hello?
Hello, Mr. Bertil.
Hello, can you hear me?
Mr. Bertil?
Yes. Hello, Mr. Chair.
All right. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes. Steve Bertil, B-E-R-T-I-L, counsel for the applicant.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
So you had case number one, 341 East Haynes Street?
Yes, I'm sure that's correct.
You want a continuance for that, right?
Yes. I just want to provide brief context and specify the request of the applicant.
As you stated, the property is 341 East Haynes Street. We did have a community meeting last week with the Faith Community CDC, which is the registered coordinating RCO for this property.
attendance. We're having a subsequent meeting on February 28th due to the lack of attendance of
the meeting that took place last week. As such, we are requesting, if possible, for this application
to be placed on the March 8th hearing list due to unique circumstances with the property. The
property was previously deemed eminently dangerous and unsafe by L&I. We have since obtained, or the
applicant has since obtained, makes safe permits to shore up the property as much as possible,
but the property's structural components are still exposed to the elements. And as we are,
you know, going into winter, or is in winter, we're concerned that the efforts would be
uh undermined so why don't you do this why don't you call the office and and um we'll
we'll get you in as soon as we can okay okay thank you very much mr chair and thank you for
calling in i appreciate the background no problem at all thank you very much
is there any other requests for continuances
i'm sorry mr chris o'brien has their hand raised i have allowed him to speak at this time
Sure. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Chris O'Brien. I'm the homeowner of 3612 West Crown
Avenue. Okay. Hold on. Yes, sir. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? Yes, sir, I do. And what case is this, sir?
Uh, it is in regards to, uh, 2022-004-548.
What, what, what location do you remember?
3612 West Crown Avenue.
Okay. All right. I see. Yes. So I'm going to get to that case. Uh, um, there's no exhibits. This
is the first listing. Do you want a continuance? I do request a continuance. We were not able to
get all of our paperwork. Okay, so MI 2022 004-548-3612 West Crown Avenue. That case is
continued. If you have any problem, call the office and it will help you on what you need
to have for the meeting, okay? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it. Thank you. Any other
request for continuance i do not see any further hints mr chair okay so i have a few other cases
that have no exhibits number two mi 2022 004 535 2412 north fair hill street dean's properties
north fairhill street dean's properties management this is no exhibits first listing
management, this is no
no hands have been raised for that okay so that case mi 2022 004
535 2412 north fairhill street first listing that case is continued
In case number five, MI-2022-001-270-7448-Lime Kiln Pike, Hanif Martin, no exhibits, first listing.
um hello again mr chair i do not see mr martin in the virtual audience okay
all right so mi 2022 001 270 74 48 lime kill pike first listing i'm sorry second listing
this case is continued mark must be tried
okay we're going to go to our regular list number three mi 2022 006 123 1643 north
marcel street yolen yolen arnett is the owner um we have this this came through council person
clark's office they are not taking a position but there was a petition of approximately 83
neighbors submitted to the council person's office and we have an rco summary from the
council person's office but the council person is not taking a position
hi yes hi could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter yes my name is
Yolan Arnett y-o-l-a-n-a-r-n-e-t-t great do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes this application is for visitor accommodations in an existing structure
The proposed visitor accommodation is prohibited in the CMX 2.5 zoning district.
Mr. Holman, one of our board members, we'll have a few questions for you.
This counselor, are you a counselor, your attorney?
No, she's pro-secondary.
Okay, okay, I'm sorry.
Did you email all of the exhibits and documents as required?
Yes, I did.
Five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, I did.
Thank you.
please proceed and share your screen okay thank you all for your time today um this is the property
1643 north marshall street um i am requesting variants for the zoning of my building in order
to appropriately have the appropriate rental license with the hotel classification in order
to continue conducting Airbnb out of my building, my multifamily building.
This is what the inside of the building looks like as designed for short-term rental accommodations.
These are the three units of the building.
This is the original application for appeal for change of use submitted on October 13th,
where I explained that nothing about the structure of the property will be changed.
It's more of a formality for the change of use in order to get the appropriate rental license
to continue the business in compliance with what is necessary.
Here is the original project information form also submitted on October 13th.
And as requested, the approval or the certificate of tax clearance proving that I'm up to date with my tax payments for the property, as well as the initial notice of refusal due to visitor accommodations not being allowed in this zoning.
Here is a petition of 83, a petition of support for the use of my building for Airbnb short-term
rentals from 88 of my neighbors. This is all of their signatures, names, and their associated
addresses in the neighborhood, as well as my current activity license, which is classified
as commercial activity um this is just a sheet indicating the rules that we um ask our guests to
Indicating the rules that we ask our guests to abide by, which all are in compliance with the Philadelphia regulations, as well as even more strict rules to maintain the respect by our guests of our space and also the surrounding community.
abide by.
as well as the deed proving my ownership of this building. I purchased this building in 2021 from
ASU Properties to myself as a single woman. And then as requested by the court, just proof that
I had after the community meeting, I had noticed on the front of my property about today's hearing
taken at least 21 days prior to the hearing.
how many units do you have there are three units building okay and you want to have a
license for the whole building yes okay um questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
do not see any hands mr chair thank you planning commission this is ron bedman our city planning
property is indicated for residential use on the city plan recommends no change to the existing
single family zoning at this location the applicant's hardship is not supported with
evidence of the fiscal circumstances or condition of the property that would prevent it from being
used in conformity with the code therefore we recommend the request for variance not be granted
thank you MI 2022 006 123 1643 North Marshall Street I vote yes for a temporary variance
that will expire 115 2026 Thomas Holliman my vote is yes with proviso
James Snell my vote is yes with Proviso. Ishmael Shaheed my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you. Thank you. Let's see number number seven
MI-2022-001-124-900-08-WEST-TIOGA-STREET.
Eli Gabay is the attorney.
Letter of support from Nicetown Tioga Improvement Team.
mr lionel autumn ginsburg had his hand raised okay the case i promoted him to panelists at
this time jason is he there
yes he's been promoted to our panelists okay thank you uh good afternoon uh uh chair this
is lionel artem ginsburg i'm substituting for ellie dubai in the uh hearing today uh okay
i'm going to do my properties all right could you do me a favor could you please spell your
name for the court reporter of course uh l-i-o-n-e-l last name a-r-t-o-m as in mary
hyphen g-i-n-z as in zebra b-u-r-g right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Okay. Could you identify your client
and the relationship to this property? My client is DY Properties LLC, which is the owner of the
lot. And I have here next to me, Yossi Meyer, who is the owner of DY Properties.
Okay. All right. Well, we're going to take testimony from you. Okay. First. Okay. Mr.
hallman one of our board members has a few questions good afternoon counsel do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy i do did you email all of the
exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing i did thank you
Please proceed and share your screen.
Good afternoon to the board.
This relates to a recycling center on Tioga Street that was given a five-year provisional zoning permit on February 7, 2017.
uh delays have have brought us to the to this point uh the the zoning has has expired on it
uh delays have have brought us to the to this point
uh i have here a tax clearance showing that dy properties llc
uh has a tax clearance and that they are the owner of the property
moment let me share that screen could you show us the tax clearance i don't see it
okay one one moment here we are here's the here is the tax clearance date of january 4th
um i don't see it you're you're you you have a zoning board of adjustment notice re-decision
up okay all right hold on a second let me switch back into this window and
share new share here we go here is the tax clearance i'm sorry here is the tax clearance okay
uh i have here the proof of ownership of the property
which is here, was purchased at sheriff's sale in 2012. I'm told it was in an absolutely
atrocious condition when it was taken. Mr. Meyer has told me that actually he unfortunately found
several overdose deceased individuals on the lot when he was clearing the lot back in 2012.
This is a recycling yard. They take in metal. They package it up. They sort it. They send it out.
The smelting is not done on site. He tells me that he has not had a complaint in the five years.
i can verify that the licenses and inspections has not given him a violation in five years
uh and essentially he just wants to continue doing what he's what he's doing already to extend
for to extend his provisional his zoning not he tells me nine years this is his second this would
be his second extension so so there was a five-year exception right but that was never picked up for
a permit uh i'm i'm gathering by the date that this permit was applied for that he applied before
the previous one expired but for whatever reason it's only coming up now right so he he right now
he's in a three-year temporary special exception five year fire but the five years up five years
okay good all right um you went to the to the rco yes hold on a second i will show you the rco
letter unfortunately they were not able to uh have a quorum at the rco meeting however they did
tentatively approve it.
Is that
showing up on the screen?
Yeah, I see it.
Let's have your testimony adopted.
all right i'd like to call my uh client mr yossi meyer hi could you state your name and
spell it please for the court reporter yosef mayor spell it my last name is m-e-i-r
yossi my first name y-o-s-e-f right and you're the owner of white properties yes
do you swear wait a minute do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
Mr. Meyer, are you the owner of DY Properties, LLC?
And you own the lot?
And do you adopt as true of all of what I just started?
Correct.
I would open the floor to any questions of Mr. Meyer?
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Meyer.
i do not see any hands mr chair planning commission ron bednar city planning