The applicant had previously met with the RCO and we feel that the code was met.
okay uh this is charles richardson from councilwoman bass's office r-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n
actually uh want to clarify yes i need to swear you and you swear for him to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do thank you charles okay i want to clarify what it was i
had sent to rachel this morning we actually heard back from because we've been trying to get
information from tayoga united with regard to who their uh rco chair was uh the rco chair that they
originally had back when the the case took place resigned and then they appointed someone else and
they resigned in february and just as the the pandemic took place that's when everything went
into radio silence we just heard back from tayoga united from uh verna tyner who was the president
of the organization, that they now have a new RCO chair named Charisma Presley, and what the
message actually said was her husband is having emergency surgery at this time, so I will,
meaning Verna Tyner will be the person who should receive anything for the RCO at this time,
you know, for now, but they identify Veronica Holman as the second in charge, and they have
two other individuals, David Smith and Bakim Devine, who will be working on the RCO as well.
So they've been having some governance issues from what I understand, but as far as of today,
they're now back up in running as far as that goes. So be that as it may, we do know that
they met with the RCO and they met with the RCO at the time. I'm sorry, we're getting a lot of noise.
Not me. Okay, I'm sorry. You can go. Can you hear me now? Yeah. Okay. Yes. And as it stands at this
point if they have support of the community as if from from the and from
Rachel has sent something a couple days ago showing some letters of people that
live on the block have no way of being able to corroborate that but if they
have the is the support we don't have any opposition but again they think you
know the RCO is now up and running so I you know I don't know if that has any
standing at this point. Rachel would you please share again
with us what it is you have from yeah yep let me share my screen
1502, 1503, 1507, 1512, 1514. That's what we did. The rest is, there's a lot of vacancy
on this block and this is a vacant structure that we're just looking to rehab into three units.
And we sent out you know 127 letters back when we met with them originally
and I don't recall during the hearing the RCO meeting that
there was any opposition to this. We did present two projects so we were there for quite some time.
okay and uh sorry
all right uh so is it safe to say uh rachel that the majority of people
on that block of tayoga street sent letters of support or non-opposition
on that block of Tioga Street sent letters of support or non-opposition? Yes, in addition to
the fact that the other homes, and I can go through which ones exactly, are already multi-family,
so our proposal was in line with the, you know, character of the block. Okay, all right.
Any further comment, Mr. Richardson? Not at this time, Mr. Chair. I think at this, yeah, I think
we'd like to vote this case is it's been around a long time and uh anyway we'll take it from there
any questions from the board planning commission yes a letter was submitted on june 9th to 2020
confirming that this application has completed the civic design review process recommended
recommendations from the committee there's no cdr for this ron yes correct no there was no cdr
it's three units i'm sorry it's okay then we have no objection okay thank you anyone else
wishes to testify in this do we have anyone else tanya
no i only see uh justin john who's a party to the case but that's it
Okay. Rachel, you conclude?
Yeah, I mean, I didn't really put on much. I just will explain that the refusals for multifamily and RSA 5 and that it fits in with the block. I would like to have Justin come on the record, if possible, just to...
Please, please do.
Okay, thank you.
Justin, are you... Go ahead.
Say your name, spell your last name and address on the record, please.
First name, my name is Justin John.
First name is Justin, J-U-S-C-I-N.
Last name is John, J-O-H-N.
I reside at 1330 North 31st Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19121.
Do you want to swear him in?
Mr. John, do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Please proceed, Rachel.
Thank you.
Justin, I just wanted you to share, you know, did you and Rahat, the other owner, walk around to the adjacent homes to obtain support for this project?
Yes, we did.
And was the sentiment of the near neighbors in support of this project?
Yes, they were.
They were really happy that we wanted to do something with the vacant structure.
we also gave them our contact information so that if there was any
issues that came up through the potential construction phase that they
would have our personal access to to us to address any concerns I think with
that said you know my presentation is concluded unless the board has any
questions thank you mr. Richardson are you do you have any of the letters of
support from the 1500 block of west tayoga you may have testified to that i may have missed it
i emailed them okay he does have those i would like to yeah make sure he has them so that the
councilwoman can look through them okay charles you want to make sure you have them if not i can
re-forward them to you why don't you re-forward them anyway this way okay i i actually do have
them uh i do have the email that you sent a couple days ago okay wonderful all right calendar number
39309 1506 west tayoga street my vote is yes 1505 sorry pardon me oh i'm sorry calendar number 39309
1505 west tayoga my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
thank you I'm sorry is this the last case coming up this is the last case
okay you want to I thought Washington Avenue is not on this list there's a
next list next list yes okay so why don't we take a
10-minute break okay that work for everybody that way
because i know that's going to be a monthly
proceeding 10 minutes thank you sounds good
Oh, man, James Snell.
She's probably the smart one.
she's probably the smart one yes sir okay just wanted to make sure you were there yep tanya
you ready yes sure i'm ready sharon
sharon
for another minute we'll see oh
ready i was just scanning your vote sheets from the last session yes i'm ready
Okay. Here they go. The kids are in the background. I hear them. All right.
All right. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Frank DiCicco. I'm the chair of the Zoning
Board of Adjustment. We have a quorum. I'm officially calling this session to order.
As you're probably aware, before I begin, I do this all the time. I'm sorry. Our solicitor is
with us, Ms. Sharon Saleta, and so is our board administrator, Ms. Tanya Sumkin.
As you're probably aware, today is our third day of holding virtual hearings.
While we may have to make some adjustments along the way, our plan is to call each case
and basically proceed as we would have in a live hearing.
We ask that attorneys for the applicants or other interested parties identify themselves
for the record when the case you'll be participating in is called.
We will then hear the applicant's presentation, followed by a presentation by attorneys representing other parties.
Interested parties and members of the public, not represented by council, will then be given an opportunity to testify.
We will ask that you limit your testimony to two minutes.
We will finally hear the recommendation of the planning commission.
at the hearing's conclusion
the board will either vote the matter
immediately or hold it for discussion
in executive session
any case held for
discussion will be voted
on the record at the
scheduled July 28th
morning session
morning session
excuse me
July 29th morning session
a couple of changes
related to the virtual format
we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony
rather than to the room as a whole since we do not have a room.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, this is important.
We ask that attorneys and witnesses identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying.
Third, we would like to advise everyone that this proceeding is being recorded
and that by participating you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded lastly i would ask if
anyone wishes to testify to please raise your hand so that miss sunkett will know that you're on that
you wish to testify will be able to uh patch it through and i believe it uh what was that number
tanya star nine was it if you wish to raise your hand and you contacted us via telephone star nine
will allow us to see that you raised your hand and if i could just add one other statement that
if you are here to testify and wish to be considered a party to the case there's a google
voice phone call number that you can call in and enter your parent's statement at 267-270-5548.
Thank you, Chair.
Tonya, would you repeat that number one more time for them?
Sure. It's 267-270-5548. That's a Google call in to enter your parents.
Thank you very much. With that, I'll ask the vice chair to please proceed.
Calendar number 39749-6747 Castor Avenue. The attorney is Sean Whelan and David Ruffinidis.
Can I also mention... Did I actually say no? Strike everything I said.
At the 3.30 session, calendar number 39749-6747, Castor Avenue, that case is being continued.
Going forward into the 3.30 case hearing, calendar number 39749-2101, Washington Avenue,
the attorneys are Sean Whalen and David Orfanides.
okay before you gentlemen begin is there anyone else who wishes to have a case
continued please if you do if you do please raise your hand that's the only
If you do, please raise your hand.
That's the only case, isn't it?
And also, before beginning this one, this is a case that went through Civic Design Review,
so if that letter could be read into the record.
Do you have that, Carol?
I don't have that.
You can send it to us.
Or you can read it, Sharon, please.
No, I think actually the Planning Commission representative will read it.
Ron Bednar, are you here?
Well, let's proceed, and when Ron gets back, at some point.
I am back, and I will read the relevant components of the letter, but I'll state on the record
when the letter was dated and when it was submitted.
Thank you.
So, Sean has been promoted to panelists.
Is there another attorney that needs to come forward?
raise your hand. Thank you.
Ron will you be reading that letter now or at the end? I'll read it at the end.
Well I can read it now if you want. Yeah I think we might as well get that on the record early.
So you start by saying that
Okay. A letter was submitted on March 4th, 2020, confirming that the applicant completed the civic design review process with recommendations from the committee.
We had no further recommendations beyond the committee's action. However, I will read its major comments into the record.
This is, again, quoting from this letter of March 4th.
Like the RCO and the CDR, committee generally supported the proposal and provided the following comments.
The committee noted that the proposal was thoughtful and well, hold on a second, was thoughtful and well designed with respect to the materials chosen, fenestration, and green space, balcony screening, underground parking, and residential lobby.
The committee felt that the design created a visually interesting building and that the scale and massing was appropriate.
The committee commended the affordable housing component provided through a private agreement with SOSNA.
The committee agreed with the RCO's comment to add more diverse unit types and to add additional loading spaces, specifically near 21st Street retail space, to ensure loading activity did not disrupt the flow of traffic or pedestrians.
The committee recommended that the addition of sunscreens on the south-facing units that the team considered adding larger balconies for some units.
The committee also requested to incorporate staff recommendations, which included the following, considering impacts of vehicle and pedestrian and bicycle safety from the additional curb cut on both 21st Street and 22nd Street, and from loading in the right-of-way of the commercial space at 22nd Street and Washington Avenue.
Set the building back to provide additional sidewalk width and recess commercial entry doors,
add additional lighting from Washington Avenue to match the proposing renderings,
continue to work with the landscape architect to plant pallets, materials, maintenance plans,
and lighting proposals for the green space proposed
relocate the bicycle parking spaces that currently conflict
with the ramp to the underground parking therefore
again the primary commission is support of this application
and is an also support with the letter that was
submitted thank you
thank you thank you mr whalen do you agree to weigh the reading of this refusal and stipulate
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ron.
Mr. Well.
to its accuracy again good afternoon sean whalen vintage law w h a l e n i'm here representing the
owner and applicant for this project and i do vice chairwoman as long as we're referring to
the amended refusal dated 2-28-2020. There are two corrections from the original refusal.
The original refusal did not require us to go to CDR, which we all knew that we had to,
and it had a miscalculation in the required number of parking spaces. Those were both
corrected on the 228-2020 amended refusal. And I will stipulate to that accuracy and waive its
reading. Thank you. And do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do. Thank you. Frank, it's all yours. Please proceed. All right. Thank you very much,
board members. I will share my screen because I'm sure you want to look at that and not me.
um well maybe maybe i just want to ask a question i'm sorry oh sure uh ron just read off a whole