this is 18th street up above cumberland street um and hunter den
and here's the refusal the application is for a variance for a duplex two-family dwelling
it is zoned RSA 5 presently this is the deed as I stated earlier the owner is the
This is the deed. As I stated earlier, the owner is the estate of Henry Naylor. And this is a 1998 deed. This property was a subject of litigation after Mr. Naylor, who was the prior owner, passed away. And it sat for many, many years after being deeded to the estate itself.
this is a photo of the facades let me flip this here we go sorry this was a color photo it's
scanned in black and white um but you get the idea where we 2532 is this property in the middle and
to give you a little bit of history uh i i am an attorney i've been before the board many times i
also uh do renovate and manage rental properties and my experience with this property 2532 started
next door 2530 where the llc i was involved with was involved with renovating this it was a fire
damaged property because uh starting in 2017 um i became involved with uh finding distressed
properties in in somewhat blighted and distressed areas and and bringing uh homes back to these
blocks um obtaining renovating and managing properties that otherwise might be uh continue
to be vacant or ultimately be demolished we were renovating 25 30 next door when our basement kept
flooding and we looked next door and we found and this was one of the first properties so
uh i was naive at the time i never really looked next door but we we come to find next door um let
flip this photo so we it's kind of confusing to see the perspective this is a photo i'm taking
this photo i'm standing you can see the banister here i'm standing at the top of the steps on the
second floor this is the second floor it's collapsed in let me move to the next photo
and sorry let me orient this one because what's up is down okay so this is me standing in the same
place let me reduce this a little bit all right so this is me standing in the same place there's
the front window on the second floor i'm looking up to the roof so the roof of this property was
collapsed now we know why the basement was flooding and the second floor was collapsed into the first
floor this is a photo of 2532 back this is back in 2018. this is the roof on on the top side of
roof there's not supposed to be a hole there right uh so this whole roof since 98 there was like i
said there was litigation over this property relatives were fighting for some reason and then
they did nothing and the uh property sat for for 20 years or so and um it essentially collapsed in
on itself uh being the next being next door and renovating the property next door um i reached
out to the owner at that time in the state of henry nailer who had a uh administrator at the
time named annette phillips and i you know voiced my concerns i hope they make repairs
uh we didn't get anywhere no repairs were done so what i did um was employee act 135 and i was
appointed the or i should say the llc i was involved with was appointed as the conservator
of this next-door property, and I had established standing as a conservator since I was involved
with 2530 next door. You see this is the order we're looking at August 31st, 2018, where the
address is 2532 North 18th Street. The petition is granted, and the LLC I'm involved with, Philly
Deeds, is appointed the conservator. And here you see in paragraph four, the court orders us to
make obtain a make safe permit replace the roof remove the debris and foliage and clean out the
interior so we did set upon doing that here's a photo of uh the roof where all those roof joists
had to be replaced um and this is the underside of the new roof this is the top of the new roof no
more holes um and that's the uh let me flip that apologize and there's so now you can see now the
second floor all that collapsed debris has been removed and the property's stabilized and no longer
flooding the neighbor's uh properties and it's a stabilized property at that point but still
vacant here's the second floor you can still see floorboards and some some of these joists are still
still rotted in nature but it was stabilized and the hope at that point back in 2018 when we
stabilized it and reduced the blight was to renovate this property as well and the way we
renovate this property as well and the way we do that usually is to seek bank bank financing um
do that usually is to seek bank
and i want to i want to uh at that at that time bank financing so so mr weiss let me you know
would be easier if i understand this so you did the place next door after a fire correct right
did you create a duplex there that's a single family there was fighting that was a single
family and you're requesting a duplex here correct because okay yes thank you at the time
financing wasn't available because the values on this block hadn't really appreciated to the point
where a bank would finance this one as a single family here's a photo of the rear um so we we set
that aside we moved on to other photo I'm sorry other um properties and I'll show you some of the
projects where we um kind of followed the same program where uh here's 5851 addison street where
this was also structurally yeah i understand that but i think what we should do instead i think we
should concentrate on the property you're talking about i understand all the work you've done but
tell us about this property so the property sat in the meantime uh mr def Phillips the administrator
passed away. So an administrator was substituted in Mr. Alex Palmer. Here's the decree appointing
Mr. Alex Palmer as the administrator to the estate of Henry Naylor. And we're working with
Mr. Palmer and the estate to bring this property back to occupy it, get some occupants in there
on the block and save it from, continue saving it from demolition. Here's the plans we're
proposing interest rates the market have not have not cooperated over the number of years that have
passed and the financing still isn't there so the hardship on this block it was mentioned earlier
by mr anastasio which was a property next nearby the 2200 block of 17th street this one's a little
further north and a block over um where the uh there's a number of vacant properties there's a
number of vacant lots. What we've done is propose a duplex with one-bedroom units, two of them.
Here's the first floor. Here's the second floor. Similar, identical, I should say, layout where
you have a good-sized living room, a good-sized kitchen. There's a door existing here in the
kitchen. There's also that ever-present door in the rear on the first floor. And we are proposing
one bedroom it's a huge bedroom this is is going to be a nice upscale unit this you can see the
dimension here is about 11 and a half feet wide and this dimension here from the front of the
kitchen to the bedroom is 25 feet but the bedroom occupies more than half so this bedroom is about
12 or 13 feet deep with a closet so it's a good large bedroom with a comfortable bathroom
um very nice kitchen with uh wraparound counters these will include trash storage and and trash
cans there's also washer dryers posed in the units and uh this a lot of times we see this
can be used as a office space here um no no living space in the basement no underpinning
no excavation in the basement just two units one bedrooms where we have found over the properties
we've renovated and managed.
There's a great need for smaller units,
one-bedroom units for single people,
maybe a couple.
So this brings a variety of housing stock
to this area and gets this property
back on its feet and occupied.
Most of our longest-standing tenants
are actually single folks
that have been in these properties
six, seven years.
Here's the RCO.
So, notice that was mailed to 220-some addresses.
We did reach out to the neighbors on the block, and let me flip this, I'm sorry, and spoke
to neighbors on the block of 18th Street, which did not oppose renovation to two apartments
there.
Most were happy that something would be done with this property.
Here's the posted notices of today's hearing.
this is the tax uh for this i don't know why the uh cert wasn't available but you can see here in
the tax records where the taxes have been paid only taxes do where the 2026 balance is which
the one that you redid for the fire is a single family home right correct the other side of this
property what is that uh this property is um miss uh miss barbara smith who's a long time was that
miss barbara smith who's a long time is that a single family home too she's a single family
a single family home too she's
yes so you have two single family homes and you're redoing this one and you want a duplex
correct there's other duplexes continue okay um
yeah uh there's just there's vacant vacant lots up the block and and uh this is what we were trying
to avoid this this property being demolished here's the block faces um a couple uh parcels there and
i just wanted to show this is the service of the if of the rsu notices if that's of interest
but um
the, yes, the various requests is for duplex, which, as I said, the hardship of this lot is
the extensive repairs. Since the, many of the joists that are still there are rotted, have to
be taken out. There is also some structural work that still needs to be done. So the extensive
of work that's required to renovate this property and the financing that's available and the value
of the property after it's done prohibits the financing to be to be issued and allow us to
renovate it like we did next door. Interest rates have only increased and material prices have only
gone up. But let's go back. You just said you want to renovate it like you did next door,
but that's a single family home right well well next door had limited fire damage in the rear
kitchen um this one has extensive damage throughout okay so right that's why so here's the fire
damage in the kitchen at 25 30 and it only had a hole in the roof where the fire department cut in
but the rest of it was good to go and so there was no structural work to do the the difference
between 2530 and this one 2532 is that every structural member in this property is rotted and
needs to be replaced and so you want to you want to do duplex because of financial reasons
right the the hardship on the block is that the value uh to the value the ARV they say after repair
value uh essentially the budget too all right so when I do this why don't why don't we let let a
couple of our uh board members questions on the board
hmm it's it he owns it all right he's the lawyer no but he's going to do it so i'm working with
mr wise who do you work for right now is this your property yet so no it's it's it's the title
owner is the estate of henry nailer all right is there anybody originally anyone that can adopt
your testimony yes alex palmer is should be on the call okay he's the administrator of the estate
that owns the property sure i i am the administrator of the state of henry nailer
having been appointed by the register your name please and spell for the stenographer
alexander palmer uh p-a-l-m-e-r do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth i do um yeah thank you mr palmer have you heard my testimony and is it true and
accurate to the best of your knowledge it is yes and do you do you adopt it as your own for the
record today I do all right questions from the board
what's your plan for trash and where are the mechanical units yes uh the trash
um let me find the plans so these are one bedroom units all the the cabinetry will include uh trash
storage uh in the one in the first store unit uh we've done uh trash uh enclosures in the back in
the second floor unit we can we can incorporate trash storage uh in the unit and i just we also
include trash garbage garbage I'm sorry in this thing the garbage disposal thank you sorry
which so a lot of the food waste will go down down the drain and not into the trash can so
with one person maybe two people trash should be pretty limited but we'll incorporate storage
either in the cabinets or in the utility closet as far as utilities there's a in the plan there
was so we we we put the plan we there's there's a closet for washer dryer heat will be electric
heat will be um electric uh many will be splits um and water heater will be uh on a on a uh in
will be splits
that closet problem uh up above so or it could be in the basement utility as well utility the
the you said there would be what you're saying splits mini splits is that what you're proposing
yeah that's that's uh that's we've done we've done splits which are efficient and and um take
up very little room we also have the basement that can house utilities uh if we decide to go
with uh heat pumps or um if if there's gas service that's needed other questions
questions or comments from our attorney
not at this time Mr. chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
no handshare planning commission good morning Liz Fusilly on behalf of the Philadelphia City
Planning Commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change from the RSA 5 zoning
district the city changed the zoning to RSA 5 in 2014 in a city in a city council supported map
change. There is no unique physical condition or circumstance of this property or a hardship
exhibited to allow additional dwelling units. The City Planning Commission recommends the
board deny the requested variance for two-family residential. MI 2025-005-130-2532 North 18th
Street, I vote no. Michael Johns, my vote is no. Cheryl Gaston, my vote is no. Tanetta Graham,
My vote is no. Ryan McAdams, my vote is no. I am in. My vote is no. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Moving on to number 12, MI 2025-005-261-7308, Caster Avenue. Isaac Slepner is the attorney.
um mr chair we also have um an arabic interpreter um for this matter um i do need to clarify with
mr slepner if the applicant wanted the entire matter interpreted or the interpreter is present
so he can so the client can adopt and answer questions just bring the interpreter on
um Arabic yes okay could the interpreter please come on too uh that's Salim Ammar
what was the interpreter's name again Salim Ammar A-M-M-A-R
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the board.
Counsel, could you state your name and spell for this phonographer?
Yes, my name is Isaac Slepner.
First name Isaac, I as in India, S as in Sam, double A as in Alpha, C as in Charlie.
last name slepner s as in sam l as in larry e as in elvis p as in peter n as in norman e as in
elvis r as in robert do you swear referring to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes i do trying to get on the uh the interpreter he's right there you sir yep
interpreter could you please state your name is spelled for the stenographer
my name is salim amar which spells s as in sam could you you're gonna have to raise your voice
little bit okay sorry about that so my name is salim amar spells s as in sam a is an apple
l is larry i is an image m is in mary salim my last name is amar which is a is an apple m is in
mary m is in mary a is an apple r is in romeo amar right do you swear do you swear affirm that you
will interpret accurately and completely and partially from english to arabic and from arabic
the english to the best of your ability i do thank you counsel you want to proceed sure um good
morning uh mr chair members of the board i represent jamal awad who is the owner of 7308
castor avenue and i'm going to go ahead could you just give him a few questions hold on one more
minute good morning um have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of
this hearing i have um except for the tax information uh which i did submit yesterday
because i had to i had a little bit of a back and forth with um hillary emerson on that but they
have all been submitted okay yep we received them and do you waive the reading of the refusal and
stipulate to its accuracy yes i do all right thank you you can share your screen and proceed
all right thank you you can show your screen and proceed and mr slepner um i knew you had requested
And Mr. Slepner, I know you had requested a
the interpreter for your client um does your client want the entire proceeding
um translated or did you want the interpreter so that he could adopt your testimony and answer
questions i will ask my client to adopt my testimony and answer questions um that was
yeah that was the kind of the purpose behind the interpreter okay all right thank you for
clarification so i guess i'll have to go a little slower but that's okay if if if your client would
like the the entire proceedings interpreted we can do that and you would just yes break it
break it into chunks okay well let's bring your client on let's bring yeah let's let's bring on
um uh mr awad are you out there why let the interpreter could you look for him please
and mr marf you can just keep uh keep your volume up as much as possible so we want to make sure
we can we can hear you and and the stenographer as well thank you okay i will just uh call back
your client said i would i see him in the virtual audience jamal awad
can we try to promote him to panelists and see if he'll accept yeah go ahead
hello hello hello can you hear us