of houses in Somerton that have plenty of deep lots and people have accommodated by putting
in recreational facilities for themselves. So there's technically not a real hardship
with that. There are many vacant commercial stores in the Northeast are available for
rent. He wants to put a store in, you know, he could rent a storefront. There's plenty
of vacant commercial spaces the existing driveway along the house is only approximately one car
lane wide and and to come out onto the busy street with a store putting a store in there
where you're going to have multiple cars coming and trying to use a driveway for both directions
is kind of a hazardous condition i think but you know that's up to you guys to decide
uh according to his plan that was just presented uh there's an existing freezer there and it's
within the uh side setback of the property it's within it's uh sitting uh less less than eight
feet from this existing property line uh that's presently there so he's already using it for
commercial purposes because he has a freezer there and it's shown on his own drawing uh where
shows three freezers and one of them is offset. Yeah, that's the drawing. And the one freezer
there closest to the buildings, if you can see it, is less than eight feet. And eight feet is
the required setback. And that's not addressed in any of the applications.
Thank you. In the interest of time, is there anyone who would like to be heard who is in
favor of this application
of this application if you're in favor of this please raise your hand
if you're in favor of
because i know those are those who are opposed will continue to say the same thing over and
over again we appreciate you taking the time but we do have many cases to go through yet
yes we i'm sorry we have excuse me we have john mckeever please unmute yourself and wait for the
chair please and please something new and different that's one comment chairman please
spell your name john your last name m-c-k-e-e-v-e-r i just want to make sure that i heard swear or
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed uh i'm vice
president of the bustling civic league i just want to make sure i heard the very beginning
mr chairman according to your notes at the at the meeting of the rco and the applicant we voted 18
to 3 to oppose this i'm not sure we we clear we we clean cleared that up it was a mistake there
was a notation should have been on another case we have that i think he heard me we do we we
cleared that matter up we understand greater busselton is opposed as is councilman brian o'neill
all right uh i'm going to move on uh questions no questions from the board i asked planning
commission good afternoon david vecto city planning commission mr chairman members of the board
the comprehensive plan recommends no change in the residential single family zoning at this
location there's nothing unique about this lot that would prevent it from being used in conformance
with the zoning code we recommend that the board deny the requested variances thank you calendar
the number MI 2021-003520, 2000 Welsh Road. My vote is no. Carol Tenere, my vote is no.
Professor Plaza, no. James Snell, my vote is no. Thomas Holliman, my vote is no.
I know we have several more cases. My question to the court reporter, do you need a break?
No, I'm fine. Thank you.
Okay, let us know if you do. Thank you, Michelle.
All right, we're going to go to case number six, seven, and eight.
MI 2021-003466, 2734 Federal Street, MI 2021-003464, 2728-30 Federal Street,
and MI 2021-003-465-2732 Federal Street.
Mr. Clinton is the attorney of record for all three.
Grace Ferry Community Council has sent a letter of support
for each of the three cases before us.
Mr. Clinton, good afternoon.
Please identify yourself and I'll swear you in.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Henry Clinton, Queen Memorial Building, 1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
The Vice Chair, Ms. Tenere, has a few questions for you.
Hi, Henry.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusals and stipulate to their accuracies?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal,
referral photos under plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met
with the rco and do you have a letter for all of these cases yes to all the above to all the cases
okay thank you you may proceed
is that visible enough or i have to make it larger larger a little bit please a little bit larger
that's good thank you all right thank you good afternoon mr chairman members of the board
as you said in the beginning this project involves three separate addresses and there's three
separate calendar numbers this is the table of contents of my presentation containing exhibits
aa through a10 which i asked to be admitted into evidence once the case is over the refusal is
basically the same for all three properties. All three properties are located in the I-2
industrial zone and refusal is the same for each of the three properties. Pardon my interruption,
Mr. Clinton, but may you maximize your screen again, please? No, you remind me of that every
time. I'm so sorry. Thank you kindly. Thank you, Ms. Sunkit. So the refusal for each
Thank you, Ms. Sunkit.
So the refusal for each property is the same.
Every property is zoned I-2,
and each refusal addresses the fact
that multifamily living is not permitted in the I-2 zone.
We do have a letter of support
from the Grace Ferry Community Council,
as the chair mentioned at the outset.
So just again, to give you a perspective here,
This is Grace Ferry Avenue heading east into the city.
The project is these two garages and somewhat of an open lot here.
And just by way of background to show you, this is all zoned I-2 right off of Grace Ferry Avenue.
But to show the board that in the past year, there's been an approval of a 19-unit apartment building right here.
uh i was before the board about eight months ago on a project here it's going to be uh again
residential the billboard is going by the wayside and then down here on this triangular piece
you're going to be commercial on the first floor and residential above this is a residential
project here to just being completed uh this project here is also residential that's being
being completed and on federal street to 2700 block it's all residential on this side
And there's two residential on this side. So basically what the trend is, is that the institutional uses or excuse me, industrial uses along this 2700 block of Federal Street are being replaced by residential use because of the demand.
and because, frankly, we don't have any industrial in this particular neighborhood anymore.
This is a view looking from the south to the north.
Again, just showing there's 100% lot coverage on three of the four lots.
And this is Federal Street looking east, and you can see that there's curb cuts and garage frontages,
and we're going to reuse those curb cuts and reorient them in some cases.
So the plans, basically, this is one property. It's 28 to 30. This is 28, 32. This is 28, excuse me, 27, 28 to 32, 27, 34, and 34.
So a little bit confusing, but the way the architect did this is when he submitted, you have to cross out your other two applications and submit one application at a time.
So they're all the same, basically.
And I'm going to use this first page to explain to the board what's going on here.
This is Federal Street.
This is the double lot.
So on the ground floor, there's going to be an interior parking space, and the remainder of the first floor on both units will be wide open.
So it's really going to be geared to perhaps a businessman or some craftsman who may want to use the garage area for parking,
and then the remainder of the first floor for whatever hobby or whatever craft they use.
So it's somewhat of an industrial use, but not totally.
There will be no basements on these properties on either the floor on this side or the floor on Manton Street.
There's going to be three stories with a rooftop deck on each of the four units.
This is just a perspective on the driving lanes.
You come off of Grace Fry Avenue, this Federal Street goes east,
and there'll be parking spaces for each of the units.
Again, just some more floor plans to show the board context of what's going on.
The lots are all the way from Federal Street to Manton Street.
They're basically going to be split in half eventually.
Right now, they're not subdivided, but they will be. So that's why the refusals indicate that there's four dwelling units on this particular project.
There's two dwelling units here and two dwelling units here. So there's a total of four on Federal Street.
They'll all be single family and there'll be four on Manton Street for a total of eight.
these are the elevations again a lot of brick bays on the second and third floor
we're going to reuse the curb cuts on federal street as well as on manton street
for the garage entrances on the first floor i'll go briefly through the floor plans this is the
floor plan for each of the eight units again no living on the first floor there's going to be a
powder room, garage access, and then a whole open area here for craftsmen or someone has
or someone has a hobby where they'd like to use the first floor but there's no living quarters
a hobby where they'd like to use the first floor, but there's no living quarters on the
on the first floor the living quarters will be on the second floor and the third floor
several bedrooms and immediate room as well as a den
one thing i just wanted to show the board besides the typical documents that are submitted
for a hearing like this i wanted to show you the industrial nature
of this area. So this is Grace Ferry Avenue. This is Federal Street. And you can just see
the hallway area is I-2. But as indicated at the outset, it's trending residential
because of its proximity to Center City and University of Pennsylvania.
So I'll field questions from the board, if there are any.
Do you have a client to adopt your testimony?
Yes, I do, Mr. Chairman.
Why don't we get him on, Henry, and then we'll move on from there.
Mr. Ram, can you raise your hand and unmute yourself or have yourself unmuted?
Yes. Mr. Ram, please spell your full name and I'll swear you in.
Doug Ram, D-O-U-G-R-A-H-M.
You swear if I'm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir. Thank you. Mr. Clinton?
Mr. Rahm, have you heard my testimony today during this call?
Yes, Mr. Clinton.
And if you had the opportunity to testify, I would do adopt my testimony as your own, and that's true and correct.
Yes, I would.
Thank you, Mr. Rahm. I appreciate it.
Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Anyone else would like to testify in this case, please raise your hand.
in these cases i should say plural i see no hands chair thank you planning commission
good afternoon david effecto city planning commission mr chairman members of the board
comprehensive plan recommends industrial and residential mixed-use zoning at this location
because of the warehouses there are still a viable collection of industrial properties on this block
both irmx and the current general industrial zoning require some type of business activity
in a residential structure the applicant proposes strictly residential development which will remove
much needed jobs from the neighborhood with no replacements we recommend the board approve the
requested variances but we also request that at least one dedicated space be included in one of
the homes for a business to operate in who makes that decision uh thank you um i mean mr clinton
And I'm somewhat familiar with that.
Those garages are currently, I think, used just for storage, am I correct?
Correct.
The owner who's on the call uses them for storage and for keeping his building materials.
And the idea of this project is the first floor is going to be all garage space.
So if there are craftsmen or someone who wants to use it, they're going to be able to do that.
Again, I said I'm familiar with that.
I know those garages quite well.
All right.
Anyway, case number MI 2021-003466, 2734 Federal Street, MI 2021-003464, 2728-30 Federal
Street, and MI 2021-003465, 2732 Federal Street.
My vote is yes on all three.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes on all three. Professor Plaza, yes for all. James Snell, yes to all three.
Thomas Hallowann, yes to all three. Thank you. Now go to case number.
Mr. Sharon, if I could interrupt for one minute. Mr. David Orfanides is on the line. If you could call the case that I had marked as a possible add-on, it's at the very end of your case summaries.
this should only take a few minutes he's you heard this case you held it for an rco letter
which we never received despite um mr orphanetes requesting it if he could just report on his
efforts to get the letter and you can then vote the case and where is that sharon it's at the
very end of your case summaries it's 1811 van pelt street it's marked as a possible add-on
Okay, I see it.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Mr. Affanides, before you start, can we say this is case MI 2021-003104, 1811 North Van Pelt Street.
It was marked as a very limited resumption hearing.
Go ahead.
Yes, correct.
At the original hearing that we had scheduled in this matter on November 2, 2021, the conclusion of the proceedings, without any input from the coordinating RCO, it was requested that they voted the matter be held for two weeks.
two weeks lapsed yesterday and um for the community group to provide a letter communication
written communication to the zoning board regarding their position in the case if they had submitted
one i requested and was i believe granted the right to respond to that communication if it
was provided i have not received that communication as of this date as of this moment and i don't
believe the zoning board has either. Consequently, I would ask that the board vote the matter.
In terms of our efforts, I did email the community group requesting that they forwarded their
position letter. I did speak with Mary Jones about it prior to the last hearing, the Friday before,
advising her that I hadn't received the letter, asked her if she had. She hadn't. She was going
to follow up with them. And I understand that she was also contacted. She may have been contacted
by the zoning board staff, attorney, or administrator regarding her efforts in that
respect. And again, as of this date, we've not received any input. I just wanted to remind the
board in making the vote that, and I believe David Fecto from the Planning Commission, I believe was