that they originally went for so we understand while we understand the
opposition from the neighborhood given its location on Broad Street and what
surrounds it and given that its proximity to
AND GIVEN THAT IT'S PROXIMITY TO THINGS LIKE THE VARIOUS STADIUMS IN SOUTH PHILLY, THIS
IS THE REASON WHY WE'RE SEEKING THE VISITOR ACCOMMODATION USED FOR THIS PROPERTY.
I'M GOING TO SHOW THE BOARD THE PLANS.
I'M SURE THERE WILL BE QUESTIONS RELATING TO THAT.
SO LET ME GO AHEAD AND SO THE WAY THE BUILDING IS SET UP, YOU WOULD ENTER ON THE FIRST FLOOR.
there's no living in the basement it's all storage utilities so each unit is a mark here
this is unit one two three four five six there are basically two units on each floor going up
to the third floor no kitchens on each floor uh there is a kitchen only on the first floor in the
back one kitchen and who's that for everybody oh that's for everybody oh no actually i'm sorry
that's only for unit 102 so if they have a uh customer that require requests a kitchen
availability so they give them that one that would be the unit they get so it's not for everybody
you want to bring your client on uh sure um mr do can you uh raise your hand virtually to be
IDENTIFIED? IS HE ON? HE SHOULD BE.
um it's uh z-h-i-q-i-n-l-i-u
okay can you uh mr liu can you raise your hand virtually to be identified
on zoom that's why i found them they should be back in short thank you
So, did you go to the meeting? Yes, I did. And could you tell us what happened there?
Well, we did over. So, it was a zoom meeting meeting. My client was present. I was there.
And generally, I've dealt with.
South broad street many years and I'm on good terms with their positions. Very straightforward. They're they're still trying to preserve.
serve as hard as they can every single family building that is still within their neighborhood
on south broad street they're beautiful brownstones i totally understand and they feel that with
the value of the properties being the way they are that a single family use would be
perfectly fine on south street regardless of what surrounding properties are used as
and that's i believe that is the main focus of their opposition in this case right and
And they felt that, again, we did tell them we did the renovations legally, but I think
the 2023 change issue didn't quite come to their mind.
They just assumed that my clients went in, illegally converted everything, and that was
Is your client getting on?
I don't know.
Jason, is he?
I haven't got them to speak.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer?
jingoo are you available
i don't know if he's having technical issues it may be difficulties mr
uh we'll accept your testimony questions questions from the board how long have you
have has this been in service uh since 2022 when they purchased it they purchased it in like march
of 2022 so they basically started into that year to start the and they've been using it as a
basically a boots hotel basically yes
time all the questions are there interior photos yes um i showed the board earlier
i mean i think i'm struggling a little bit with the six units given that that one unit
that has the kitchen also has the only access to the rear yard um and i'm a little curious about
maintenance so this is these are the actual management conditions the so my
clients they they only have this location for they're actually they call
uh location for they're actually they call 168 brothers i mean the partners and the brothers
once they say brother
two brothers and partner they basically this is their main focus on this type of operation
uh they do come to the property on a regular basis they they're doing self-management of six
units yes they're they're doing the self-management on that yeah okay and then they're only booking
through like airbnb vrbo type websites yes what's been their current occupancy um that
unfortunately i did not ask them i don't have the answer to that yeah i think so i think a couple
concerns one i've stayed at a lot of hotels say a lot of boutique hotels this does not look like
a boutique hotel this looks like a pretty baseline budget short-term rental one that's meant for
volume and not for like experience um and i think even at most hotels right any typical hotel
there's still like a utility sink or like a kitchen sink that people have access to
there's usually check-in service there's usually other things on site that sort of make that
business model make sense and i think even when people converted houses into smaller versions
there's still some sort of common lounge area like check-in area place where you can store luggage
like this doesn't seem to have any of that which makes me question how it's
functioning without like an on-site manager it's primarily airbnb uh which means it's
booked online and people would bring this i mean like that part i understand like the function
of it i'm just saying like if this is the primary source i also think because they didn't add
kitchens there's nothing here other than a gfi for a refrigerator that made this um separate
i mean they're not like they're not on separate meters right like this could be very easily
converted back to a single family home other questions questions from our attorney
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
yes chair i have a handout from uh peter zutter i will go ahead and promote them
right now. They should be back in shortly.
Peter?
Yes? Hello?
Hi, Peter. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Sure. My name is Peter Zutter, P-E-T-E-R, Z-U-T-T-E-R.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, sir.
So I would just would like to start by emphasizing a few things that it appears that this owner has made an illegal use of the property if they have continued to use it as an Airbnb since the rules changed.
They also, the permits that they applied for did state that they were applying for renovations to a single family home.
And as was pointed out earlier, I believe by your attorney, this does look more like a rooming house.
So it looks like the, you know, their application for work to a single family home was not entirely accurate.
They've also shown poor property maintenance already by not shoveling snow.
they've had disruptive tenants in there who have caused disturbance to the
neighbors with loud music Mr. Jin had mentioned that it was not hidden from
the neighbors what they were doing but what they applied for was permits for a
single-family home and when we reached out to L&I what L&I told us is that
there are no regulations that prohibit a bathroom with each bedroom. So everyone went under the
assumption that this was just going to be like a newer house where there were more bathrooms. So
they've really not been upfront with the neighborhood. These uses, especially with
absentee landlords, they're always a problem. We have several of these and they're just always a
problem and this already has been a problem you know the applicants have not been honest with us
about their intents there and we are strongly opposed to it you can see mr chairman you probably
know how many people we usually get at our meeting we have quite a few people come out for this and
and oppose it the councilman is in opposition this is something that simply continues to degrade our
quality of life and that we are strongly opposed to all right let me see is anyone else in the
virtual audience um anyone else in a virtual audience yes chair a sandrine she on i will
promote them they should be back in shortly do you have any other hands after that just one more from
do you have any other hands after that just one more from an alex tran okay
I'm an Alex Tran.
can you hear me i can't hear you could you please say hi could you please state your name and spell
for us on green shown s-a-n-d-r-i-n-e last name shown s-h-e-o-n right you swear or firm to tell
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do are you a neighbor um i'm not far away okay please
proceed um i did attend the um south broad street neighborhood association meeting when this case
came up before and it was clear to to us that there again the property owner did not appear
on the screen at all so we only have his lawyer to contend with it is clear from
the meeting that they purchased this property single-family home zone and
then proceeded to gut what was historically a beautiful building there
were several people who described having lived there before and just being
crushed by what they have done to it in the cheapest possible way they wanted to
or be it be it and then discovered that they didn't have the right license for it and so they
came to us the neighborhood association to make white what they have illegally done so okay yeah
i'm just confirming that this is really uh disturbing to see again these buildings are
beautiful and they should be kept beautiful to add value to our neighborhood thank you thank
you very much thank you very much for taking the time next hand please
please. Alex Tran will be coming back in shortly. Okay.
Can you hear me? Yes. Could you state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My full name is Alejandro Aguilar Tran, A-L-E-J-A-N-D-R-O, and then Aguilar Tran is A-G-U-I-L-A-R-I-F-E-N-T-R-A-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Sir, are you a neighbor?
I live right next to them.
Please proceed.
So when they originally, we did see, or actually knew the family that lives there before these new owners came in.
it was a i've been inside the house beautiful they had a lot of artwork it was a single family
that had a you know decently decently big family when they so when the new owners came in we saw
the permit it did say it was supposed to be a single family home i'm kind of skeptical we just
assumed there was going to be like a rework since it was an old building maybe something needed um
renovations but recently and it's actually been over the past couple of years the tenants that
move in there they've been loud they've been partying the odor from the marijuana they've
been smoking has seeped into our rooms multiple times and i've had to close my windows open up
the fan and just get like a bunch of air fresheners just to drown out the smell there's a little alley
in the um like between our houses you can hear them yelling and screaming and the people right
across from my room specifically i've also heard them yelling and screaming and it's like different
voices every time so i i take it you're in my backyard you're against this
sure i'm opposed to this you're against the pro you you're not in favor of it
can you know i'm opposed to this so you're not in favor of this project yes i can hear you
yeah okay thank you very much is there anyone else in the audience
no further hands mr chair planning commission
Good morning, Michael Gall with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 residential single-family
attached zoning at this location. This is a highly transit accessible location on a main arterial
street appropriate for visitor accommodations under certain conditions, and it is surrounded
by existing multifamily and commercial uses. Due to its interior layout, this effectively functions
as a single six-bedroom visitor accommodation unit. Therefore, the City Planning Commission
recommends the board grant but with a recommended proviso of maximum one unit
yeah oh my 2025 006 767 1209 south broad street i vote no
uh cheryl guest and my vote is no tanetta graham my vote is no
i'm mcadams my vote is no i win my vote is no thank you councilor i believe i have one more
matter is it's 7105 you have here you go here you go mi 2025 0067
Here you go. Here you go. MI-2025-006-765-7109 Ridge Avenue. Zen, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes. Zen Jin, Z-H-E-N-J-I-N. Here on behalf of the app.
Right. And could you identify your client, please?
Yes. The property owners are Ms. Lynn and Mr. Jones, Z-H-E-N-G and L-I-N.
One of them should be here with us.
And you have a unanimous support and the strong support from another RCO.
Our wife's chair has a few questions.
that's great good to hear that uh good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits
five days in advance of this hearing yeah and do you waive the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy all right thank you can share your screen and proceed with you
i'm going to share with the board i'm sorry excuse me this is the court reporter could
i ask mr jen to get closer to the mic sure uh yeah and i think someone needs to mute as
well got a mute in the background here yeah go ahead all right can the board see my uh yeah it's
up sir okay thank you so the reason uh this application was refused uh by l and i is because
the zoning district when it was remapped this property fell under rm1 however as the community
support letter has indicated the business that exists there has been there for many many years
and well loved by the community they actually thought it would be grandfathers into some kind
of commercial mixed use when it was remapped but somehow the property ended up as rm1
as a result essentially we're trying to legalize the continued existence of this
printing business it's a it's a small family-owned business that's been in the area for many years
so the i'm going to show the board the photo very quickly uh this is a again a part of the
avenue that has multiple commercial uses nearby this is a printing shop we have dunkin donuts
across the street yep and it is separated from other uses nearby so there are no issues with
impacting neighbors as far as the printing use or the limited commercial use that is there now
I'm going to show the Board of Plans again very quickly.
It's the whole entire first floor is the printing shop.
That's essentially what it is.
And with that, I would ask for the Board's favorable review of this matter.
Thank you.
Do you have your client come on, please?
I'm not sure which of the two of my clients might be here.
So there's no changes?
You're just trying to correct what was done?
correct this is a legalization yeah i got it all right um i don't know if miss miss lin or mr jung
is on on the uh zoom can you raise your hand see if you can be do we see anyone on the zoom
i see chaffan then is in the virtual audience yeah that's it yeah chaffling please chaffling
Please raise your virtual hand and wait to be sworn in.
Prior to the hearing, yep, prior to the hearing.
Who's that one in the background?
You're still going to.
I'm having some difficulty with my clients on Zoom today.
I apologize.
nice and uh one more time chow fun then please raise your virtual hand away to this one in
council mr chair you can proceed
sir could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer
Okay. All right. You're an officer of the court. We'll take your test money. Does anyone have any questions?