Okay, proceed. Yes.
Our organization
respectfully requests that
the letter that we emailed early this morning endorsing the project under review now sent by
email being inserted in the record. We also want to mention that our co-chair who also signed up
to speak, Mr. Timur Cameron is going to briefly make some remarks. And we also want to mention
that we hope that the community benefits agreement that has been drafted will be signed
as soon as possible since we are endorsing the project
with the provisal that that agreement is executed.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for calling in.
Who else do we have in the audience to testify?
Two more, Cameron.
I've got him to speak.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Hi, yes.
My name is Timur Kamran, spelled T-I-M-O-U-R-K-A-M-R-A-N.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Proceed, sir.
Okay. Yes, I'm representing the RCO Norris Square Community Action Network, which is affected by this project.
I'd just like to state for the record that our support, as my co-chair Nilda Pimentel just said, is based on the following conditions, which I believe are in the CBA agreement that is yet to be executed.
And these conditions are establishing hiring and contracting targets for laborers, licensed construction workers, and local and minority subcontractors, all at a 30% minimum, and hiring qualified community members for 100% available permanent positions after construction is complete.
Next, establishing a committee composed of representatives from the RCO to ensure that hiring targets are met, address any issues that may arise throughout the construction phase, and monitor progress and compliance.
Next, that assurances to reserve the ground floor for commercial retail should a change in use for the property is proposed within a period of 10 years.
Next, language providing a mediation mechanism in the event of a stalemate occurring in the future.
Next, a commitment.
Sorry, two more.
I, so we don't have to hear the whole thing. We understand it. What we're going to do is
So we don't have to hear the whole thing.
We understand it.
we're going to continue this for a vote until we have a letter from the RCOs and the council person
and how you work that out among the corporation and yourself will be the agreement you two have.
Okay. Yeah, sounds good. Just essentially, I'd like to report what's.
No, we understand. We understand. But, you know, the CBAs will be between the two of you and, and I say the two of you, the community and the corporation. Okay. Okay. Anyone else?
No further answer, Mr. Chair.
Planning commission. Do you, did you run, Ron, you already gave me your position, right?
right he did he did okay so the record's closed except for letters from the rcos and the council
person council is that okay would i be able to send a letter to just to to explain once we get
the signature sure sure okay i want to be able to be at the party too you're part of the party i
promise okay all right thank you we appreciate it thank you so much okay all right number
Number six, MI 2022, 004-894-1402 Ellsworth Street.
Alan Notkinson is the attorney.
A letter of support from Point Breeze Community Development Corporation.
mr knockamson uh yes hi good afternoon had a hard time getting you in earlier
i i know i i had some technical issues so i actually literally ran home
that's why i'm not even dressed the way i usually am i'm like what
could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please uh yes alan a-l-a-n
Last name, Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia
PA, 19109.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your clients and their relationship to the property?
There are two corporate entities that I'm representing that are joint property owners,
IRA Development, LLC, and Mid-Cost Enterprises, LLC.
and in the virtual audience should be if he and she q as a who's a corporate representative
and mr hallman has just a few questions good afternoon council 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 required five days in advance to this hearing oh yes i did thank you please proceed
and share your screen all right thank you
uh first of all happy new year to the board and to the virtual audience
um my name is alan i'm here to present 1402 ellsworth street
uh in your presentation packet we'll first review the notice of refusal
Second, we'll then review the letter of support from the Point Breeze CDC.
Then we'll review a document that we created based on the public record of nearby properties with minimal or no rear yard setback.
That's one of our refusals that we have to address as part of our presentation.
Maps of the area, photographs of the property, our plans and drawings, our RCO meeting notice,
And our application for appeal that we filed with the ZBA, our deed to the property, showing that IRA Development LLC and Meek Coast Enterprises LLC are the owners of the property and our Certificate of Tax Clearance.
Again, in the virtual audience should be Mr. Eze. At the conclusion of my presentation, I would ask that he would virtually raise his hand, that he'd be sworn in, and then he can adopt my testimony as his own, and then we'll be more than happy to take any questions from the board.
First is our notice refusal.
This is an RSA 5 property.
What we're looking to do is subdivide this lot into two.
And we have two refusals.
First thing I'm going to state is this property has already been built.
This is a two-unit condominium building.
It's at a corner where one of the units, they're both essentially, if you look at it, for all intents and purposes, single-family homes.
One unit faces one public street.
another unit faces the other public street instead of making it into a two-unit condominium
Instead of making it into a two-unit condominium, there are two sets of unit owners that just want to own their properties separately.
there are two sets of unit
So it's just a different form of legal ownership.
Instead of a condominium structure, we just want to do a fee simple.
It's really form over substance.
We're not changing anything.
So this is not conceptually, oh, we would like to build this.
This has already been built.
And then the unit owners, the two corporate entities, would like to each own one of the building structures essentially separately.
So we have two refusals.
First refusal is the minimum required lot area.
Again, we're not changing anything physically regarding this project.
It's just some technical zoning variance requests.
The second one is the required rear yard depth.
Again, because of how the building has been structured, which has been built legally, we're asking just to change the form of the structure from a condominium to a fee-simple structure.
So, again, even though we have these two technical refusals, nothing has really changed over the course of since this property has been, the building structure has been erected.
So, I think that's why we had, you know, overwhelmingly support from, you know, Point Breeze CDC.
We're not changing anything here. And at a well-attended meeting, we received Oklahoma support from the Point Breeze CDC, which is the coordinating RCO.
And then just to address, you know, again, about the fact about the rear yard issue, the fact that we don't have any, you know, we decided to just, again, precautionary manner, in a precautionary manner, address this, and we looked at nearby properties.
Here's our property, and here's all the properties in close proximity, which would run afoul of the zoning code in terms of the rear yard setback.
And that would be 19 properties within like a three block radius.
And then here are maps of the area.
Again, we're at the corner of Ellsworth and Broad Street.
Again, we're a corner property, and we're just looking to legalize this fee simple structure as opposed to the condominium structure.
Photographs of the property.
As you can see, this is from Ellsworth Street.
It looks like a single-family structure.
You know, it's a two-unit condominium, but it has its own separate entrance like you would see at any Philadelphia row home in this part of Philadelphia.
And I did say it was Broad Street.
It's actually South Carlisle Street.
That's the one structure that faces Ellsworth. This is the other structure that faces Carlisle Street. And again, it's his own building structure.
So again, if you walk by this property, it would seem like these are two single family homes.
And that's all we're trying to do by creating this through a subdivision.
And then here's just proof of our Orange Notice posters. We did it on one on Ellsworth, a poster, and one on Carlisle.
And then this is Ellsworth Street to the right of the property. Ellsworth Street to the left of the property. South Carlisle Street to the right of the property. South Carlisle Street to the left of the property. This is a single family neighborhood, and that's all we're trying to do by way of this zoning request.
And then here are our plans and drawings. This is just, again, from a technical standpoint, our survey showing the subdivision of these properties. But again, the building structures are not changing in any way. It's just a legal technicality that we're dealing with by subdividing it and applying that subdivision to the Philadelphia Zoning Code where we're getting technical refusals, even though this is a legal building structure.
and then you know then again this is just our architectural plans and drawings this was
submitted as you can see uh to uh the city by way of these stamps have been approved
but the buildings have already been built and then there's just an elevation just wanted to
show you that this has been approved and vetted by the city already and then this is just our
floor plans. Again, two single families going straight up rather than side to side. Again,
this way we can subdivide these properties and they can be considered single-family dwellings
rather than through a two-unit condominium regime. And then our RCO meeting notice. We had a very
well-attended meeting on November 28, 2022. It was sent to 577 addresses, proof of mailing to
those addresses, the addresses that we sent them to.
Our application for appeal that we filed to the CBA, one with the nois refusal and the
along with the notice of refusal, and the project information form, our deed to the property, showing the IRA development, and the cost of enterprises are the owners of the property.
project information form, our
And our certificate of tax clearance. It is showing a balance of $1,984.64, and the reason is, is that's just for 2023 taxes, which are not due until the first quarter of the year concludes.
With that being said, I'm going to stop sharing my screen.
I'm going to ask that Mr. Eze virtually raise his hand, and he can be sworn in.
I'm allowed to speak, sir.
Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Yes, it's Ifai Chukueza, spelled I-F-E-A-N-Y-I-C-H-U-K-W-U, last name E-Z-E.
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes proceed counsel uh yes mr essay you heard everything i had to say today about
yes is it true and correct yes it is and do you adopt his own testimony yes i do thank you
i only have the other owner you want to bring on oh no he's he's a representative for both
okay all right questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman questions
or comments from the virtual audience do not see any further hands mr planning commission
sir ron bednar city planning property is indicated for residential on the city plan we have no
objection granny of the beards thank you mi2022 004-894-1402 ellsworth street i vote yes
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Nockamson.
Thank you.
Number eight, MI 2022-004-921-1031 Germantown Avenue.
Sean Whalen is the attorney.
we're waiting for we're still waiting for letter support from northern liberties
neighbors am i right hillary uh mr chair we did receive a letter of support from northern liberty
okay as well as a letter of non-opposition from council member scrilla okay a petition of support
signs by about 13 near neighbors. All right, great. Thank you. Appreciate it.
Mr. Whalen? Good. Hi. Good afternoon, Shannon,
Bergen and board members. This is Sean Whalen, W-H-A-L-E-N, from Vintage Law, here on behalf
of 1031 Germantown Avenue OCF LLC and Pollard Allen OCF LLC, the developers and owners of the
project. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. Mr. Heilman has a couple quick questions. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy? Yes, I do. Did you email
all of the exhibits and documents as required five days in advance to this hearing
yes i did thank you please proceed and share your screen
so as i said i'm here on behalf of the owner and developer for 1031 germantown avenue
hopefully you're all viewing the screen right now this is a rendering of the project
This address may sound familiar and this project may look very familiar to you.
We are proceeding today with phase two, which we presented to the board in concept back in May when you approved phase one.
So essentially all we're doing is building on additional land adjacent to phase one.
We're building the same project. So phase one stopped right here.
You can see the drive aisle. We still have only one curb cut and one drive aisle, but we're just continuing the row of townhomes down along. This is West Allen Street coming off of Germantown Avenue over by the Piazza and just on the opposite side of Pollard.
There is a church at the end of the block here that is not subject to this application and is not involved in any way as a phase three or anything of the sort.
So, again, just to remind you, here's looking on Pollard Street now.
Again, we're just continuing the row of townhomes down to where the church rectory.
Again, we're just continuing the row of townhomes down to where the Church Rectory building is.
This is the interior courtyard that you previously saw.
So we have that single drive aisle goes down to an underground shared driveway for garage parking for each of the townhomes.
And then there is this publicly accessible and ADA accessible internal sort of garden area and pathway for everyone to utilize.
You can see the same thing at night. And again, here's this is where the project stopped again and you can see where we were going.
So as Miss Emerson already stated, we went before Northern Liberties Neighbors Association even more so than we did before the board in May.
We started working with NLNA on the full project, Phase 1 and Phase 2, well back in the beginning
of 2022 and early spring of 2022.
They fully supported.
We actually had multiple meetings and a number of revisions to Phase 1.
You may recall as I walked through those.
And Phase 2, we basically kept all of the revisions and all of the changes that NLNA
wanted.
so they were very happy to see what was coming before them and fully supported
this project phase two of this project i should say
councilman mark squilla in line with nlna's support did provide a letter of non-opposition
again similarly to the phase one of this project
As Ms. Emerson also referenced, we have about 15 individual property owners. You can see right along West Allen Street immediately across from, so this is previously the site of the Vesper Day Club, the pool, a bit of a problem business for the neighborhood.
We're building the townhomes all along this West Allen frontage.
So we went to each of the homes across the street and made sure that they were in support.
And we did the same thing along Pollard to make sure that they were in support.
So again, what you can see is phase one.
Here was this large triangular piece.
Phase two is these two rectangular pieces fronting on West Allen and this square fronting along Pollard.
So, as you can see, this is just gives you an indication of the extent of the development large development all around us. However, this is almost a an equal blend of single family row homes and large apartment buildings and industrial.
So it's really a mixed use area.
So again, just be clear and what leads to most of the refusals that you'll see before you or if you already looked at them.
Phase one was entirely CMX2.
So it was a commercial.