as well this the one that was mailed out for this hearing was for the we did amend the application
in the meantime per the rco's request um to an a grocery store from a laundromat we made it a
grocery store even though a laundromat was by right. We did change that. This is
We did change that. This is an email sent to the RCO and the ZBA for the notification. And this is just a receipt of the mailings. So now we can begin. This is a, so this is a, let me make this full screen.
an email sent to the RCO.
So this is the Luden Street view of the property. This is the zoning poster here. This is the front
view of the property. This is the zoning poster here. This is dated 7-24, so July 24th when we
put up these posters. And again, the zoning poster posted to the front. So this is a good overview
of the property I'm going to zoom in a little bit so I'm not sure if you can
tell by the photos but this is a very large corner property it's in need of
major repairs so this is the third floor here this is the second floor here and
this is the first floor let me go to the next photo here is another view of the
property again this is I don't know if you can tell by the photos but it is a
a decent sized property with bay windows there's a front yard and a rear yard as
well and now so then we did email the civic the Logan Civic Association RCO
on July 28th and I do have that email to provide a summary of the meeting and we
also emailed mr. Richardson along with the members of Cindy Bass's office and
you'll see that later on as well. But I'm just going to provide a meeting, a rundown of the
meeting that occurred on the 10th of February. So we met, we went to the meeting, we did the
mailings as usual, we went to the RCO, and we were not allowed to discuss the duplex
without first removing the first floor use, which was a laundromat. They did not want a laundromat
area, even though it was by right. One neighbor in particular came to the meeting to oppose
the laundromat. So the RCO suggested that we change the first floor use before discussing
the duplex. The duplex was not opposed or even considered. So after the meeting, we
emailed Ms. Sunkit of the ZBA to request an amendment according to the RCO, just like
RCOs. We didn't oppose that or anything. We just had to put something down for the application. So
we put something that we thought a neighbor might be interested in because he expressed interest
which was a laundromat. And let me see that. So this is the initial refusal here. You see that
the application is for a laundromat. The reason it was refused was for a duplex,
not for the laundromat, but that was the initial application. And then I emailed Ms. Sunkit
on February 19th to ask for an amendment because the RCO requested that before even
before being allowed to discuss the refusal they were they requested to remove the first floor use
and make it a grocery store so we asked Ms. Sunkit if we could amend it and she did allow
us to amend the application to a convenience store rather than a laundromat this is the
the amended refusal which is the exact same thing except instead of laundromat
I made it a we made it a convenience store on the first floor just like the
neighbors requested so this is an email to Mr. Richardson and Cindy Bass's
office who have not replied to us asking for their support but clearly we saw
that they want to continue this so I'm going to talk about the property a
bit. So this is the property right here on this corner. It's zone CMX1. It's on the corner of
8th and Luden. This is Atlas, which is the Philadelphia tool, the city website. These
are the adjacent lots to the corner store, which are zone CMX3. CMX3, I believe, has by right duplexes
up top. They want to build apartment buildings right next door. So I think it's unfair to say
that we can't have possibly have a duplex when they're building when the
Goldenberg Group are building multi-unit multi-story next door so
we'll go to the next page these are this these this is a the property right
here 4800 North 8th Street there are two corner properties next to our property
both who have been previously approved for duplexes on the second and third
floor and we believe that these were granted duplexes because of the same reasons that we're
requesting a duplex this property is very large in size the second floor is 750 square feet roughly
the second floor is 750 square feet roughly and the third floor is roughly
and the third floor is
850 square feet and we'll go over the the floor the rough sketches of the
floor plans as well but both of these properties have been approved for duplexes
in the past this is just the nearby properties here on the block on 8th
Street you can see that they're they're 15 and a half feet wide while our
property is almost 18 feet wide not including the bay windows and this is a
large lot 18 feet wide by 90 feet with the bay windows that's almost 20 feet
wide I'm just showing you the size of the property this is a site plan just to
get an overview of what the site looks like there's a front yard a rear yard
this is a building this is the entire building this is almost 64 feet the
entire building by 18 feet so this is a large building there's a veranda in the
rear a portion of front so this is what it says first and second floor but this
should be second and third floor I apologize so this is just a sample this
isn't wasn't drawn by an architect we just I just put this together of what we
think that the current condition is a shell condition which it has been vacant
for nearly 30 years the second and third floor the first floor the convenience store was used
and up until recently up until 2016 we believe but this has been vacant for nearly 30 years
on the second and third floor so this is 737 square feet and then 840 square feet
we're talking about very large units
so this is what we so that you can see another view of the property what we intend to do which
is just repair all the windows just try to make it as nice as possible obviously it does need you
know fixing up and we believe that this will benefit the neighborhood 30 years vacant I think
it's it's going to be a good thing this is what we think that will happen if we
fix up the property right now this is a street view from Google Maps of the
property right here to the left you can see that there's dumping right here and
what's known as the Logan triangle those lots that were approved for
multi-million dollar developments there's dumping nearly every day and we
we actually cleaned out the house and we had to pay you know junkyard fees you
know, to clean up the trash inside. Meanwhile, people are dumping in the front. So again,
you can see this trash. We think that if we fix this property up, it won't, it'll deter the
dumping because if they see a nice property, they see a house maybe with cameras, security cameras,
lights, they won't come here and dump, at least not on this corner. They'll go somewhere else.
We really strongly believe that. We are also pledging that these units will be, according to
the HUD. There'll be fair market rents, even though they're renovated. These are going to
be two affordable units. And that concludes our presentation. If you have any questions,
I'd like to respond if possible. Thank you. You said you're not an attorney.
No. I think you're missing in your trade. You did an excellent job.
Thank you. And you're not an architect either, right?
No, I'm not. I work in IT, actually.
All right. Good job. Thank you.
Is there any, are there any questions from the board?
Anyone else wish to testify on this case, please raise your hand.
No hands up at this time, Chair.
Thank you. And Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Board. My name is Peter Bernard. I'm presenting today on behalf of the Planning Commission. My name is spelled P-E-T-E-R-B-A-R-N-A-R-D.
This property is indicated for commercial mixed use on the comprehensive plan.
However, the property and the adjacent structures were built as single-family houses.
The property use is not compatible with the surrounding properties.
Accordingly, we object to the granting of the variance at this location.
Will we swear to them in just to be on a safe side?
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth?
The statement you made, do you swear and affirm to narrow the truth to the best of your knowledge?
Thank you.
Thank you, Tonya.
Anyone else who wishes to testify in this case?
no no one no one uh sharon could i impose on you uh to give us the language on the holding of this
No, no one.
No one.
Sharon.
case i don't have that in my notes um yes um can i first note for the record um the planning
commission i believe suggested that the commercial use was inappropriate unless i misunderstood um
Just so that it's clear, the commercial use is permitted by right.
That was denied.
Repeat that.
The commercial use that is requested is permitted by right.
There was no.
I heard you.
Someone else chimed in.
That question is posed to the planning commission.
To reiterate the statement that I made,
We identified that the property is identified as commercial mixed use in the comprehensive plan, and that our objection is to the variance for two-family units because it is attached to adjacent units that have been built and maintained as single-family homes.
Okay, I misunderstood. It's the two-family. If it were a one-family above, you would not be opposed.
Thank you. Mr. Chair, how long would you like to hold this in order for the RCO to weigh in?
No more than 30 days, within 30 days at maximum.
Okay. Then the record will remain open. The applicant will return to report back on and
will attempt to contact the RCO and will report back on any progress that he has made at the
next hearing within 30 days and a vote will be taken then. Thank you. Mr. Richardson, you still
there? Mr. Richardson, you can unmute yourself and speak.
Okay, Charles, you there?
Yeah, I don't know what's going on here.
He can unmute itself, but it's not being unmuted.
All right. Well, I'll just, for the record, Mr. Richardson, you heard what the board's decision is.
Here I am. It finally showed up.
All right.
I assume you heard what the position of the board is about.
Within 30 days.
Yes, Mr. Chair. I'm going to speak with the head of the Logan Civic as soon as we get off,
and I'll have her contact the applicant, and then they can work it out from there.
Very good. Thank you.
thank you all for your participation sorry can i uh can i ask when the next meeting would be in 30
days what date that would be and what time or that that's a question for uh mr richardson rather
than us obviously i mean with the zoning board when i return zoning board as soon as within 30 days
whenever we get the uh correspondence from the rco and or the councilwoman's office
we'll make that decision okay thank you won't be beyond 30 days it'll be within
30 days thank you all for your time thank you is the Lester's any other
business that I don't know I'm not aware of it that ends our session sure does
Yes, cheer, that's all
That's it, everybody
Okay, I'll see you guys some more
Stay safe, have a good night
Thank you
Bye, everybody
Thank you, good night
Bye, good night
Thank you, court reporter for everything
Good night
Thank you
You're welcome, have a great night
Bye-bye.