record thank you yeah thank you questions or comments for the virtual audience
no hands at this time chair planning commission Amy Boyd with the planning commission the
comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the current RSA
residential single family to RM1 residential multifamily. This is an undersized lot of 473
feet, just 36 feet deep, which presents unique physical conditions that would prevent the property
from being used in conformance with the rear yard depth standard of the zoning code. The proposed
roof deck would be, oh sorry, would allow the resident access to light and air on this small
lot. The Planning Commission recommends that the board grant their requested variances for rear
I adapt the roof deck and my 2025 0 0 6 4 4 8 14 55 North Marston Street I vote yes John's my
John's, my vote is yes.
Ruth is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my Ruth is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Maya McAdams, my vote is yes.
I am Wynn, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Smiling, look at you smiling.
Number nine, MI 2025-006-477, 1012 North 3rd Street.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Is this your first time today, Alan?
Right.
Could you please state your name and spell for this sonographer?
Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N, last name Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
Yeah, my clients are James McCulley and Jennifer Maslow.
this is north third street right yes it is yes and this is a there's a letter of support for
northern liberties neighbors and a letter of non-opposition from council member young
and you also has a petition with eight signatures six from the block that's right our vice chair has
a few questions good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance
of this hearing yes we have and do you waive the read another refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
I do. All right. Thank you. You can share your screen and proceed with your case. All right. Thank you. Hold on. I'm just trying to get in here. Sure.
All right. So this is not a developer. This is a young couple who bought a property and they were in liberties. It was advertised as a duplex. It looks like a duplex.
And they paid a lot of money for this property, too, expecting to supplement their mortgage payments by having that first floor or lower level unit being rented out.
And, you know, while I don't believe that was like, I don't think the neighborhood group provided a letter supporting their letter of support, but ultimately that's what they said in Northern Liberties.
We don't typically approve like, you know, legalizations of this sort, you know, because they want to create a precedent, but they understood that, you know, this is unique circumstance. Plus, it's not out of character. And we'll show a couple of properties that are also multifamily on this block. And they welcomed my, you know, my clients who are a young couple, hopefully to, you know, grow a family here on this block.
so we'll go over we have the exhibits which are 11 of them at the conclusion of my presentation
i would ask either that james or jennifer virtually raise their hand sure so this is an rsa5 property
it's a rather large lot of 2420 square feet we're looking to do two family household living and
they understand too that this is just the first step of the process that they would have to get
a co uh to legalize that use as well and they did hire an architect even during before this process
just to make sure that this is something they could legalize so jesse smith you know of you know
who's a very knowledgeable architect that our firm uses a lot confirmed that there would be should
be no issue getting a co under the circumstance given that this is an r3 uh property uh here's
letter of support short and sweet but um that was the gist of of the meeting it was short and sweet
but it was also we don't typically do this we understand that during unique circumstances
they pay 1.6 million dollars for this property uh so you know expecting to you know have
supplement that mortgage payment through this second uh unit i also think it's appropriate
given that there's a separate door in the front and we'll take a look at that
And even in the back, there's access as well. They did this themselves. This is not our typical
petition, but they personally went door to door. They actually did a Q&A as well, frequently asked
questions, you know, to the neighbors. They wanted, you know, to do this themselves. And, you know,
So they had 10.04, 10.08, 10.18, 10.14, and 10.06, all in that block signed letters of
or signed this petition.
And I don't believe, let me just confirm if any of them are the multifamily structures.
No, there are all the single family, there are single family structures or occupants
who signed this petition.
And then this building was actually profiled. I believe this is Philadelphia Magazine of how amazing this building is. And it, you know, it's currently we highlight this part below all this is the law in loss apartment, which is currently being rented out by a tenant. So again, it was applauded by at least Philadelphia Magazine take it for what it is as something that to be
applauded by at least philadelphia magazine take it for what it is as something that to be proud of
uh and you know again we looked at zillow this is you know been rented out you know of public
record or at least on the internet so it's not like something that we created here and then maps
to the area um while our block is rsa 5 there is mick zoning nearby as well
and then photographs of the property this is the front of the property
uh this is the and by the way this is the posting but these are the separate steps that lead to the
lower level and that's my where my client lives they go up of uh i guess three or four steps
the occupants if they're so lucky would you know separate occupants would go down a few steps
and this is north third street to the right of the property north third street to left of the
property again i think a little better view of what you're seeing here um but there is a lot of
light and air down there and then you can see here there's a ton of light in there this is like
sliding glass doors in the rear and you can this area is 12 by 17 that lower level backyard so
there's a lot of light and air there there's also a ladder that goes up there you know as well for
the lower level occupant god forbid they got you know a situation in the front but there's a separate
entrance in the front and there's a lot of light in the air with a sliding glass door
in the back and then you can see that's where that lower level uh occupant would be
and then again if you just look at this this is kind of like the drawings that we took from the
from the architect that did this project um but you know my clients would go up the flights of
steps to the first floor second floor and third floor while the lower level occupant would go
down the flight of steps if you look at the rear it's it's you know full glass like basically in
the lower level and then if you look at it from here so a couple things like there is a garage
here for my client but if you notice there's no living underneath the garage it's shared storage
and utilities so if the occupant goes down to fly the steps they get into this oh i'm just moving
this this foyer area right to get into the into the property and as you can and i think there's
pictures in the like in the presentation but you'll see there's a lot of glass here with a lot
of light in there um that kind of brightens up the room uh so it's a you know your foyer area
You got like a kitchen, a living room. You have a bedroom here and you have a den area and you have another bath and then you have the outdoor area. And then both occupants, my client on the upper level and then the other occupant in the lower level have their, you know, access to storage and utilities.
So the utilities are separate from each of the areas. So there's no difficulty in that respect either.
And that's just the upper level. So we met with the community on January 5th, 6.30 PM. It actually was a well-attended event meeting. I would say like a dozen or so, not the executive board on top of the executive board. And we notified 213 addresses.
list of the addresses proof of mailing to those addresses i thought there was a picture of the
interior which really did show a good light in there from from those large windows in the back
uh the our application for appeal along with our project information form and there was refusal
the deed to the property showing my clients bought it actually i mistakenly said 1.6 1.625
million dollars so this and again you know this is not one where they have unclean hands you know
it's it's you know sad this sometimes happens um and then certificate of tax clearance you know
this these are their taxes you know in the city of philadelphia those are not due yet until march
31st i'm gonna stop sharing my screen i would ask that either jennifer or james virtually
raise his hand raise their hands and be sworn in they're being promoted to thank you
hi can you hear me hi could you say stay hi we hear you could you please state your name
hi could you say stay hi we hear you could you please state your name
and spell it for the stenographer yes it's jennifer malo j-e-n-n-i-f-e-r malo m-a-l-o-w
and spell for this
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do counsel oh yeah jennifer you heard everything i had to state about your zoning matter today
yes is it true and correct um one correction um there isn't a ladder in the backyard there is a
what there is no ladder in the back there is no back ladder it looked like a ladder but obviously
that's something that you would have installed you know if you're if you get the variance request
uh something we're looking into okay
what's that she she testified something she's looking yeah
all right i'm here as well but i'll be silent sir sir could you please state your name and
spell for the stenographer yeah um my name is james mccauley it's uh j-a-m-e-s uh last name
mccauley m-c-c-a-u-l-e-y do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes counsel uh uh yes um james well i guess i mean i only need one of them to tell i mean i
can also have james whoever you want yeah i mean and i think yeah i can just talk me yeah uh and
then jennifer i think the last question is uh do you adopt uh my testimony as your own uh yes okay
all right questions from the board yeah so this is uh owner occupied right yes they live upstairs
all right and then the utilities are all separated from um from each other that's right okay and um
trash what is the trash plan for both units so for the rental unit uh uh jennifer is there an
area in the in inside or somewhere segregated that's you know distorted trash during the week
um yes can you explain where um well there's a place in our garage and then there's also
um a basement unit okay but is there's a place in the basement unit to actually store the trash
during the week um there's a there's a separate unit from the basement down there actually that's
right there is like if i remember there was a storage area where yeah yeah so hold on let me
just show you that yeah it is shared storage yeah there's just there's sorry i said basement
unit but there's a separate storage area and yeah let me just show that actually
let's just look at that i don't know if it's it's not reflected on those pictures
this is not the shared storage area over here um
yes that is that's that's it okay yeah so that's a share so if you look if they go down the step if
one goes down the steps there's the immediate door where's where the utilities are but there's
also shared storage area and utility room and then you go a little further and that's the
that's the door front front door to the lower level unit
other questions
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson hillary emerson emerson not at this time
mr chair uh question or comments from the virtual audience no hands at the sound chair
planning commission amy board with the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no
change in zoning at this location from the current rsa 5 residential single family
the current structure was granted building and zoning permits in 2009. zoning permit number 224404
dated 9 10 09 reads for the use as a single family dwelling with two kitchens which shall not be
separated by partition part by partitioning or lockable doors shall not have separate utilities
and shall not be used for occupants who shall be related by blood marriage adoption and living as
a single family the planning commission recommends that the board deny the requested variance for
two family yeah uh mr chair and i know it's not in the testimony i should have brought this up
it is separately divided now there is no it's completely closed off right so um mi 2025 006
477 1012 north third street i vote yes johns my vote is yes cheryl guest and my vote is yes
tenetta graham my vote is yes ryan mcadams my vote is yes iowen my vote is yes
thank you all right so now we have 2020 uh mi 2025 zero
All right, so now we have MI 2025-006-725-2002, South 16th Street.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Mr. Nockamson, you've already been sworn.
Just state your name for the record.
Alan Nockamson.
Mr. Nockamson, can you identify your client relationship to the property?
Yeah, to the left of me is Lou Maglio, one of its owners.
All right, also the unanimous support from Point Breeze CDC.
um including three near neighbors and also a petition of support from 11 neighbors including
three from the immediate block our vice chair has a few questions good afternoon have you submitted
your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing yes we have and do you waive the
read another refusal and stipulate to us accuracy yes we do all right thank you you can share your
screen and proceed with your case. All right, let me just, uh, let me just, uh, let me just, my screen is shared.
Hi, um, this is 2002 South 16th Street in the Point Breeze section of Philadelphia.
We'll go over 11 exhibits. Uh, to the left of me is Lou, uh, the, uh, owner of the property.
this is an RM1 property. It's only 686 square feet in lot size. So we're 34 feet short. Not
out of character to have multifamily structure. And we're only looking to do a duplex. So we're
34 feet short. Not out of character to have multifamily of a similar size. 1940 South 16th
19th Street is also a 2 unit. 1948 South 16th Street is also 2 unit. 1948 South 16th Street is 678 square feet. 1940 South 16th Street is 686 square feet. 2000 South 16th Street is also a duplex. 1905 South 16th Street is also duplex.
And 2020 South 16th Street is also duplex. So now I have care to have duplexes here. As stated, we have unanimous support here. Again, you know, this group, Point Breeze Community Development Coalition, as well as the whole community in general, are usually tough on legalization, not legal, here is not legalization, but to have a duplex when you have to seek by way of variance.
I think they recognize first we're an R1 property, slightly off the square footage calculations of the lot, but also the fact that it's not out of character to have a similar type of multifamily on that block.
Plus, my client is a well-known entity.
I believe his mom lived there for, what, 30, 40 years?
Well, we'll have him testify, but I believe it's like 30, 40 years in that neighborhood.
They own a bar restaurant called Station Bar and Grill around the corner, across the street.
There you go.
it's naive and and that's been around forever so they're well-known quantities in the neighborhood
so um and you know they you know there's even comments like in here about like you know from
the community group or people who voted this is someone within two blocks lou has always been a
great neighbor last year when i broke my leg at the at work he went out of his way to shovel
our pavement i have full trust that this will help the neighborhood uh this makes a lot of sense in
this area the plans appear well thought out and we need more rental properties in the neighborhood
so that was the comments from the community that were documented uh comparable density 2000 south
16th street uh what's it called what's the property here 1916 south 16th street 1948 south 16th
street 2020 south 16th street lou also got a petition of nearby neighbors maps of the area
Again, this is not, we're not trying to convert an RSA 5 property to multifamily.
This is RM1, just a little smaller.
And then photographs of the property where Lou's looking to clean it up.
Orange notice poster, South 16th Street to the right, to the left.
Then our plans and drawings with a rendering, trying to spruce it up.
We're going to add a third story.
So there is a component of an addition there.
and then we want to do a rendering both day and night and then again all we're doing this is the
addition is basically we did the third we did the third story setback too we did the eight feed I
know that that was something that was important to the board on another matter that our firm
handled a few weeks ago to make sure to keep continuity on the block so we did the eight the
the you know third story setback which again in point freeze that's usually a big issue
here it was not um and um you know but we also didn't set it back all the ways to the rear of
the property to respect the neighbor at 2000 south 16th street so the third story does not go always
back to the second you know always back where we could have gone and then
back to the second, always back where we could have gone. And then very basic floor plan. You
walk into the first floor, you got a living room, dining room, kitchen. These are steps. These are