Yes, I do.
Great.
And then is Mr. Leonard on?
I am, yes.
Mr. Leonard, do you adopt my testimony as stated?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
Mr. Leonard, please give your full name and address, and I'll square you in.
I'm sorry.
Sean David Leonard, 642 Washington Avenue, Haddonfield, New Jersey, 08033.
Thank you.
And the adoption of the testimony that the counsel just read off, you swear and affirm that is the truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, Chairman.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else, Tanya?
no i don't see anyone else okay uh questions from the board
planning commission uh we have no objection to the granting of the
variance thank you calendar number three nine
seven five zero nine nine nine eight frankfort avenue
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
thank you thank you mr chairman mr chairman do you know the timing on a
written decision they just have some financing constraints you will have to
talk to the administration office so you can send the email thank you very much
I appreciate it thank you have a good afternoon you too calendar number three
nine eight two nine nine one one West Dauphin Street the attorney is Alan
noccamson
mister knockin since you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipend
to its accuracy? Yes, I do. And do you also swear to affirm or to tell the truth and nothing but
the truth? Yes, I do. Spell the name for the stenographer, please. Allen, A-L-A-N, last name
Nochamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N. Address is 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA,
I also have two witnesses who are also attending via Zoom, Constantine Petroff, who's the owner's
representative, and Alex Dollar, who's the architect of record.
And I would have Mr. Petroff be sworn in, so then he can attest to what I state during
my presentation.
Is it possible for him to raise his hand?
Okay, thank you.
They're both available to testify as you wish.
Alan, call your first witness and I'll swear him in.
Okay, Mr. Petroff, you are the owner of 1825.
Okay, Mr. Petroff, you are the owner of 1825 Development LLC, correct?
Correct.
Which owns 9-11 West Offen Street, right?
All right, so I handed you a packet of material.
Let me swear a minute.
What is your last name again, Alan?
Petroff.
Mr. Petroff, you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes I do. Thank you. Please proceed. Okay, so I handed you a pack of exhibits which include eight
exhibits. The first it's a deed to the property showing that 1825 Development LLC owns the
property. The second exhibit is the certificate of tax clearance for 1825, showing that they're
tax compliant. The third exhibit is the notice of refusal for this owning matter. As you can see,
this is an RM1 property, and we're seeking to put a two-unit condominium here. Typically with
RM1 properties, we would have enough square footage, lot square footage, that we wouldn't
have to be here. The lot size is 729 square feet, but we are in an overlay, which requires 425 square
feet per unit for a requirement of 850 square feet. So in actuality, even though this is an RM1
property. The only use allowed by way of this overlay is a single family property. Even though
there's the entire area, if you look at exhibit five, which is the zoning map, which is page one
of it, shows that this is completely within a multifamily area. If you look at exhibit eight,
We actually met with the nearby neighbors via a certified RCO meeting last week, and everyone who attended supported this project.
So we have unanimous support from the community.
Now, I can go through the drawings if you want.
We also have photographs of the property, which shows a vacant lot, showing proof that we posted for this hearing.
But, you know, I'll do what you want me to do.
uh whatever is the takes the least amount of time and gets you what you need on the record
i think this is actually again i'm i know you have a lot on your agenda and i don't believe
that this is one that you know garners much time for you for this board but i don't want to be
disrespectful either and i don't know if we have anyone on the line who would be against it that
will be the first person against this project again it just makes sense it's an rm1 property
If it was not in an overlay, we would not, it would be allowed as of right.
Okay. Thank you, Tanya. So there's no one else on the phone.
And you can ask your client or clients if they want to adopt,
if they would adopt your testimony.
Yes, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Petroff, you heard everything I stated today.
And is it true and correct?
Yes, of course.
And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
yes I am done with my presentation any questions from the board no planning commission
this property is indicated for residential use on the city plan
given the property configuration and the overlay in place we have no objection to the granting
interference thank you uh carol i'm going to ask you again for some reason i can't pull up the
summary calendar number three nine eight two nine nine eleven west dolphin street
okay calendar number three nine eight two nine nine eleven west dolphin street my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
good luck thank you very much have a great day
you too take care calendar number 39289
449 west norris street and the attorney is isaac slepner
Isaac, you have been promoted to a panelist. You can speak and share your screen as you
Mr. Slepner, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Mr. Slepner, are you there? Can you hear me?
Yes, I do.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Yes, I do.
Can you put your name and address on the record and spell your name?
Can you put your name and address on the record and spell your name for the stenographer?
All right. I was not expecting the Philly Fanatic to show up there.
My name is Isaac Slepner, I-S-A-A-C.
Last name Slepner. S is in Sam. L is in Larry. E is in Elvis. P is in Peter. N is in Norman. E is in Elvis. R is in Robert.
I am with Mattione Limited, 100 North Independence Mall West, Suite 5A Northwest, Philadelphia PA 19106.
And do you swear for a firm to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Mr. Slepner. Please proceed with your testimony.
All right. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
My name is Isaac Slepner. I represent the owner and developer of 449 West Norris Street,
Dominus Holdings, LLC. And with me somewhere in this call is my client, Roman Guzva,
who is the principal of Dominus Holdings. Also with me today is Logan Dry of KCA Design,
our architect. So 449 West Norris, and if you may, if I may, I'm going to share the screen
and share the exhibits that have previously been distributed to Sharon Saleta and to the
board, but I'd like to go through our exhibit list. So if you would indulge me. So I'm now
sharing our exhibit list which is extensive you can feel free to scroll
through it and I guess I'll just start the exhibits so exhibit one if you'll
look at exhibit one that's our notice of refusal which we already stipulated to
So Exhibit 2 is our time-stamped application for appeal, November 7, 2019, Exhibit 3 is
our plans, and I will actually ask our architect, Logan Dry, to elaborate a little bit more
on the plans.
Logan, are you there?
Logan, ahoy ahoy.
Okay. In any event, our plans, I'll go over them briefly. It's going to be a three-story
with a basement, two-unit is what's planned by my client. The first page is an elevation
and some site photos and a site plan. Exhibit four is our floor plans. And as you can see,
The two apartments would be basement and ground level with having rear access and then second and third levels with the upstairs apartment having rooftop access.
Exhibit five is a rendering done by our architect in which you can see the plans for the composition of the property, some brick, brick and metal, pretty standard three story row.
The property is a corner property. Exhibit 6, and I will enlarge this for you and turn it around if I can.
Exhibit 6 is a map of the area, and I really wanted to kind of get into this because what this will show you,
let's zoom in first and then twist it on its side so you can really see it.
This is a screenshot I took of Atlas when I wasn't really able to print out my screen from Atlas.
Can everybody see that? How about if I enlarge it a little bit? Is that any better?
That's about as big as I can get it with the details still in there. So let me orient everybody
to this. Right there at the corner of 5th and Norris is 449 West Norris. That's our property.
447 West Norris. And you'll notice that these are all of my highlighted property. Well,
many of the ones I highlighted are in RSA 5 zones, including ours.
449 West Norris is in an RSA 5.
Next door to 449 West Norris is 447 West Norris.
449 is a vacant.
It's a vacant lot with a wood fence around it.
447 is also vacant, a vacant lot.
My client does not own that one.
445 West Norris is a mixed use.
It's a pizza shop or a deli at the ground level with two apartments above.
If you look across 5th Street on Norris, you've got 501 through 507 West Norris. Those are more
recent new construction duplexes. There's four duplexes in a row there. If you look just north
of those four, there's a huge development coming on North 5th for 2004 through 2020.
There's a huge development coming on North 5th for 2004 through 20 North 5th, which is to be a 38-unit multifamily.
If you look just south of Norris on 5th Street, 448 West Norris is actually a church.
502 West Norris right there is an auto garage.
And at the very, I guess, bottom of my map there, south on 5th Street, that's 1939 North.
I'm sorry?
Oh, I thought I heard somebody. 1939 North 5th, which is another multi-use, there's a small restaurant at the ground level with, I think it's two or three apartments above.
So as you can see, the immediate vicinity of our property is, there are a range of uses, none of which are really single family residential.
You've got some mixed use and you've got some multifamily and I will continue down our exhibit
list here and I'll put this back so everybody can read it properly.
Exhibit 7 are the zoning permit documents for the aforementioned properties.
First you have the permit for 501-09 West Norris to be developed as several number of
two-family houses. That was in 2017, so you can see when that was built. Next, you've got 445
West Norris, and there's the use permit issued in 07 for a takeout restaurant with a one-family
dwelling above and an accessory office, and the application documents there, too.
Then you've got the same for 1939 North 5th, which there's the initial application for the
permit from 07, and the petition for appeal to the ZBA from 07, and the notice of refusal
from 07, the notice of decision of the zoning board, also from 2007, granted with provisos
for a, and there's the use permit, if you scroll down, it's page 34 of 45, granted in
July of 08 for a takeout restaurant with seating and catering on the first floor with an existing
apartment on the second through third floor. So again, restaurant mixed use. And finally,
pages 35 and 36 are the permits and plans for 2004 to North 5th Street, which is a 38-unit
multifamily and notices of decision applications. I pulled the zoning permit histories for these
just to emphasize that there's a lot of various uses in this immediate neighborhood.
Exhibit 8, beginning on page 43, is our pictures of the orange signs
that were photographed on July 8th, which was 14 days ago.
The first photo was turned to the side, and that's a close-up of the board with the orange poster,
our refusal, and our recent letter to the neighbors.
The next photo after that, you can see the corner of 5th and Norris.
There's our orange poster across the street.
You can see the new development multi-units.
And there, the last photo, page 45, is our orange poster with refusal and letter.
Behind it is a mural.
That mural is actually on the wall of 445 West Norris.
My client's construction, proposed construction, would not seal up that mural.
That mural is immediately adjacent to 447 West Norris, which is, as I mentioned, vacant.
I'm going to move on to Exhibit 9, 9 through 19.
So Exhibit 9 is a photograph of our property, 449 West Norris and 447 and 445 looking eastbound on Norris Street from the corner of 5th and Norris.
The next photo down is the same, 449 West Norris, looking north on 5th Street, and a different angle of our property, 449 West Norris, I guess looking northbound, but really just looking at the corner property.
Exhibit 10 is a photograph of 445 West Norris, which, as I mentioned, is a multi-use.
It's a cheesesteak shop.
I misrepresented it as a pizza shop.
It's apparently a cheesesteak shop with apartments above.
Exhibit 11 is 1939 North 5th, Mi Puerto Rico Family Restaurant with dwellings above.
Exhibit 12 is 501 through 507 West Norris.
Each of those are duplexes.
Exhibit 13 is the, it's still under construction, but that's 2004 to 20 North 5th, which is proposed to be a 38-unit multifamily.
Exhibit 14 is our project information form. I can enlarge that if you can.
Exhibit 14 is our project information form. I can enlarge that if anyone needs me to.
We don't need that enlarged. We're good. I got you. 15 is the RCO letter. 16 is the deed to the
property in favor of Dominus Holdings LLC. Dominus purchased that in August of 19 and it was
um recorded number of 19 and uh the final page uh exhibit 17 um i'm sorry second our penultimate
exhibit 17 is our letter of july 8th to the neighbors informing them of this zba hearing