inside.
inside. So this appeal against L&I comes under section 143055 of the code, which deals with
discontinuance of use. And here we believe that because the use has been continuous and it's not
been abandoned since 1949, we believe that this appeal should be sustained and that the board
should allow for L&I to issue a permit for a three-unit building at the property.
So at this point in time, I'm going to ask Charlotte a few questions.
Charlotte, can you state your name, please? Charlotte J. Martish. M-A-R-T-I-S-H.
and where do you live what's your address 504 writer street philadelphia 19128
have you heard the statements i have made yes are they true and correct yes do you adopt them as
your own yes um charlotte can i direct your attention to exhibit five um which is on page
23 of the pdf which is um an owner's affidavit are you able share and share excuse me are you
able to share that? Apologies. Can you see my screen now? Yes, right. Yes, um, Charlotte,
do you recognize this document yes i do um sarah we need to get her on the record her name and
address your client charlotte can you record please my name is charlotte martish m is in
Mary, A, R, T as in Thomas, I, S as in Sam, H.
I live at 504 Ryder Street, R, I, G, H, T, E, R Street, Philadelphia, the Wissick and
section of the city.
Thank you, Ms. Martis.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Thank you, Sarah.
Please proceed.
just to go over things since uh really quickly um did you hear my statements that i made earlier
yes i did are they true and correct yes do you adopt them as your own yes um at this point in
time i'd like to redirect your attention to um exhibit five which um is on page 23 which i
23, which I believe I have shared on the screen for debaucher review. Do you recognize this
document? Yes, I do. Is it in affidavit? Correct. Is that your signature, which appears on page two?
Yes, it is. Okay. So, and prior to signing this document, did you review it? Yes, I did.
and you ensure that all the statements made in are correct they are correct
okay so just to take you chair for the benefit of the board on this document
describes the history of ownership in detail which I presented in my initial
presentation I'm happy to go over it again but I just wanted to incorporate
it into the record for the benefit of the board and everyone involved so
So, Mrs. Mardish, your father owned the property at 207 Green Lane, is that correct?
And growing up, where did you live?
I lived next door at 205 Green Lane.
My parents also owned that property.
So growing up, were you familiar with 207 Green Lane?
Yes, I was.
were you familiar with how that property was operated yes I was was it always a
rental property as far as I remember correct and how many units great and
then your father passed away in 1978 is that correct yes and after your father
passed away your mother owned the property correct and did your mother
continue to operate it as a rental property? Yes, she did. Did it continue as a three unit property?
Yes, it was.
Yes, it was.
After your father passed away and your mother took ownership of the property,
did you remain involved with the operation of the property?
I did to a point, yes.
My mother was older then.
And since after your father passed away, did your mother live in the property?
My mother decided to sell the three-story apartment, three-story building at 205.
I was going to help with that.
She got the wrong soda.
I'm worried about them being able to knock that down.
Sharon, I'm sorry.
You were unmooted.
The dog listened to what your command was.
I'm so sorry.
All right.
okay Sarah please continue so Charlotte I believe you were talking about your
mother moving into the property yes my father died in 78 my mother lived next
door it was the house was too big she and my older sister decided to take over
the first floor apartment at 207 Green Lane and she consequently sold 205
really she continued to rent out the other two apartments um and then in 1998 she transferred
the property to you and your sisters yeah 1998 98 yes um and throughout that time
do you guys continue to have to use the property as a three-family property yes um from
From any point in time that you can remember through now, did you make any interior alterations
to the property?
Just painting, carpeting.
Did you make any alterations that would reduce the number of units below three?
What was your intention regarding the property and how you wanted to use it?
originally i thought my three sisters and i would retire but as i got older i realized i couldn't
live with them so we decided finally we needed to sell the property and when you went to sell
the property did you intend to sell it as a three unit oh definitely as a three unit yes
um that's all the questions i have for my client at this time i'd be happy to
answer any questions for the board just the gist of your testimony is that this
is always and it has continually been used as a three-family dwelling the
triplex license the license was paid for only two of the three units
Because it was owner-occupied
Understood
Understood, okay
Thank you
Leonard or whomever
I'm not sure if Leonard is in attendance
Yes, he submitted a letter
Have that letter
to be read into the record?
Give me one second.
Thank you.
I can read you the email that Leonard sent today.
Ms. Sunkit, please inform the Zoning Board of Adjustment with respect to the matter of
207 Green Lane, ZBA date July 22, 2020.
On the basis of all the information provided, the city is not opposing the applicant's claim
to lawful non-conforming use so long as all the materials supporting the claim are put
into the record of the board and on the condition that the appellant obtain a new use permit
indicating three-family use once a decision letter is issued by the board.
Have we known that sooner? Okay. All right. Anyone else, Tanya, on this case?
I have no hands up at all. All the callers, there are a lot of callers. If you wish to testify,
you must press star nine but cheer at this moment i do not see any hands up
any questions from the board
Thank you. Any questions from the board? All right. Calendar number.
all right
Oh, God. All right. Carol, would you give me that calendar number and address again, please?
Carol, if you could unmute yourself.
okay calendar number 39727 207 green lane
okay calendar number 39727 207 green lane uh my vote is uh my vote is to grant the appeal against
L and I. My vote is to grant the appeal against L and I. Appeal granted. Appeal granted. Appeal
granted. So we voted. Thank you. Thank you all.
I thank you for the rest of your day calendar number 39 I'm sorry can I
interject please sure so sorry so chair vice chair we do have the attorney for
Frankfurt Avenue available it's a different Michael and if you will allow
him go to go next I can promote him to a panelist yes reading okay that'd be
calendar number three three nine seven five zero nine nine nine eight Frankfurt
Avenue the attorney is Michael Malloy it is Malloy thank you very much do you
agree to wave and stip? Yes, thank you. And do you also swear to tell the whole truth and nothing
but the truth? I do. Thank you. It's like Perry Mason. Thank you, Frank. Okay. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman, members of the board. My name is Mike Malloy. I'm with the law firm of Obermeyer,
Reverend Maxwell Hipple. I have with me today two witnesses if we need them. Of course,
is Justin Giannotti. He's with Dynamic Engineers. He's our professional engineer on the job. And
Sean Leonard, who is the managing member of 9998 Frankfurt Avenue, LLC, which you'll hear,
we might as well take care of that preliminarily. OPA had the wrong owner listed on the
on the records. And so the application was filed under the name of Realty Income Corporation.
Realty Income Corporation sold the property to Mr. Leonard's LLC. And that is 9998 Frankfurt
Avenue or Frankfurt Ave LLC and in your exhibit packet we've pre-marked as
Exhibit E the updated deed OPA sheet and previous deed for your record so with
that we're talking about the property located at 9998 Frankfurt Avenue it's
the northwest corner of Frankfurt Avenue and Knights Road in Northeast Philly
currently it's in a discontinued or abandoned gas station retail a motor
vehicle repair station and retail this mobile dispensary use and if you look at
exhibit K in your packet that shows the photographs of the existing conditions
and the site is like a lawyer it's more a part of me if you could share their
that with us. That would be helpful. Oh, I'm sorry. No problem. It's all new to all of us.
Oh, geez. I thought you had them to see them. I thought that when I submitted them that you had
them. Okay. Let me, give me one second, Mr. Chairman. Sure. Give me one moment here.
Sorry about that.
No worries.
No worries.
One second here.
Give me one second here.
Hold on.
Hold on.
Apologies.
I would have had, I thought this was working differently.
Sorry about this.
Thank you.
if it's given you a problem we can just go with your oral testimony and okay well i as i i'll
keep testifying as we as we uh can you hear me right now yes okay great i'll keep testifying
and i'll bring up the exhibits okay uh so thank you mr chairman sorry about this so the existing
conditions consist of an abandoned service station plus a canopy. The space is 100%
impervious surface. The existing square footage of the building is 1,880 square feet.
And what's proposed is a complete rehabilitation of the site. The applicant proposes to construct
a single commercial building with two tenant spaces. The first tenant space would be 2,488
square feet. The next one would be 2,844 square feet. It would have 33 parking spaces,
and the smaller of the two spaces is already dedicated toward a citizen's bank. The other
use has not been identified yet, but Mr. Leonard is marketing it. The site would be reconfigured.
There would be access points on both Knights and Frankfort Avenue. In your exhibit packet,
there were two exhibits under the plan set. The second plan set that we submitted, the only change
was a minor change in the driveway aprons. They were straightened instead of more like an apron
type driveway. But otherwise, the site will be fully landscaped. It will be green. They'll put
green areas in with underground stormwater management. The site has no environmental
conditions. In the exhibits, we've received community support. The RCO letter, which is
marked in the exhibit packet as Exhibit N. We've also received a letter from the councilman,
and that letter of support is also in the exhibit packet from Councilman O'Neill's office.
The two variances that we're discussing today have to do with the drive-through
for the proposed use, and that drive-through is 14 feet closer. I'm sorry, it's 14.5 feet,
where it should be 20 feet from the adjacent commercial area, and the other variants
request that we do not separate the bypass lane with a curb, and rather the applicants proposing
a thermoplastic striping, but a curb median or landscaping is proposed under the code.
So those are the two, the setback from the property line for the driveway at 14.5 instead
of 20, and the ability to stripe it instead of curb the distinction, the distinct area between
the bypass lane and the other lane. And the reason for the curbing to get rid of the curbing is
because when you run a plow through, it destroys the plow. So I think that this is one of those
variances that actually maybe falls under Hertzberg. And it's a complete rehabilitation
of the site. You have an economically distressed property. We're coming in, making a better use.
They're just asking for two minor dimensional variances, one of which is probably
de minimis in nature. And that is the end of the case. And my witnesses
you know, de minimis in nature. And that is the end of the case. And my witnesses would confirm
on the record that what I said is correct. Okay. If you have your witnesses, would you,
are they there or are they joining? They should be on the line, yes. And
maybe they can raise their hands. Yeah. Well, the witnesses in this case,
please raise your hand so we can identify you.
Hi, this is Justin Giannotti with Dynamic Engineering.
Justin, would you please spell your name for the stenographer, your name and address?
Name is Justin Giannotti, so it's J-U-S-T-I-N and G-E-O-N-N-O-T-T-I.
you swear to the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do and your address i i interrupted you i'm sorry not a problem 826 newtown yardley road
suite 201 and that's in newtown pa 18940 thank you
mr malloy you want to ask your client if he adopts your testimony
Mr. Giannani, do you adopt the testimony as I stated?