as well as the nearby the nearby school in a nonprofit organization.
We also canvass the neighborhood and obtain signatures in support of our project.
Also, we have a zoning permit regarding a project that was approved by this zoning board last month next door, which allowed for 206 units, as opposed to our project.
It's merely nine units with a commercial component. That's a CMX 2 project. Nearby CMX properties with full lot coverage, the reason why we're showing you that is that two of our refusals pertain to open area issues, as well as rear yard setback issues, showing that it's not out of character to have full lot coverage in this neighborhood.
And you'll see it even in the aerial showing the existing building structure.
Parts of the building structure has full lot coverage, the existing one for our property.
Then we'll go over Ms. Scott.
She's a well-known hairstylist.
Her company is Dape Hair Salon.
If you looked her up and we have some literature about her, she does hair, holistic hair for the African-American community.
She has done work for Jill Scott, Janet Jackson, Questlove, so she's known locally as well as nationally for her work, and she's looking to keep her business in this neighborhood by way of this development where she would have the commercial components, and she would have nine units above with full affordable housing, which we'll go into further.
maps in the area photographs of the property or plans and drawings or rco meeting notice for the
for the certified rco meeting there was a subsequent meeting as well
where we're asked to attend but it was not certified because no notices that went out to
the surrounding neighbors our application for appeal our deed to the property showing that
amaru llc is the owner of the property and our certificate of tax clearance again in the virtual
audience, we have Sarita Scott, as well as Darnell Thomas, as well as their architect, Chris Johnson
of 24-7 Design. Hi, so this is a CMX2 property, and what we're looking to do is erect a nine-dwelling
And what we're looking to do is erect a nine-dwelling unit with ground floor commercial.
unit with
Our refusals are as follows.
First, the last square footage is a little over 3,000 square feet.
And because of that, we're technically allowed only six dwelling units on this property.
If we were to avail ourselves of the affordable housing bonus program, we would be allowed for low income housing, we would be allowed nine units. And that's what we're basically gearing our project to.
The reason why we are trying to emulate that and indicate that to the board is that unlike the affordable housing bonus program, where under the circumstances that we have here today, only one unit would be required to participate as an affordable housing unit.
My client is proposing to have all nine units as affordable housing. Mr. Thomas, who is Ms. Scott's partner on this project, is a general contractor who focuses all of his attention on projects with affordable housing.
So that's his business model. So that's why we think it's appropriate to kind of match apples to apples here.
we're allowed nine units to do the affordable housing program. We, instead of having one
affordable unit, we want nine affordable units. And I think that's why we've generated some
support because this neighborhood's in desperate need of affordable housing. The other, and by the
way, under the program, we would be allowed to build 45 feet high while we're only proposing
38 feet. The portion of the property that's on 22nd Street is two-story in nature. We thought
was more appropriate to build 38 feet high rather than 45 feet high so instead of just having a
higher building with less lot coverage we were proposing to have a lower building greater lot
coverage for several reasons first if we even built a building at 45 feet high under the affordable
housing program forget about the neighborhood contextual nature it would just wouldn't be
an appropriate and reasonable floor plan it would be out of whack and Mr. Johnson would you know
speak to that the architect of the project it just wouldn't be a functional floor plan
so we believe that having 38 feet greater footprints would have more functionality in
terms of our project secondarily the reason why we're offering to have a lower building
with a greater footprint goes to the contextual nature.
It's not out of sorts to have buildings
with full lot coverage with no rear yard setback.
And you'll see from the aerial photographs
that our current building structure
would run afoul of the building code
if it was judged today by L&I.
And that's where our two other refusals go.
We're required to only have lot coverage of 80%.
We're at 93.2%.
And then the third refusal has to do with the rear yard setback, where nine feet is proposed, excuse me, nine feet is required and zero is proposed.
So we have correspondence from the Allegheny West Civic Association.
We met twice with them.
The first time we met with them, honestly, I thought we did really well.
Like, it was an in-person meeting.
it was at an older and over 55 community and the room was packed with individuals. I would say
there were probably upwards of 50 people in that room and we received this we received an ovation
you know again Miss Scott just a little background here we're near the Tasty Cake facility
in Philadelphia and that's where her parents actually met so she has strong ties to the
neighborhood and her business has been there for some time. So given her ties to neighborhoods,
given her business being there, given her background, given her reputation locally,
as well as nationally, we thought that this was, given the affordable housing component of having
nine affordable housing units, we thought this was a really strong project in spite of the
requested variances. And after the meeting, we were told that we did not receive approval. There
was two votes that were broken down. The RCO board committee actually voted in support of the
project, the first meeting, four to three. But they say that the people in attendance who were
within the affected area, they voted three, four, and six against. And then our understanding was
that, at least from the meeting, there was no one against that. My understanding, after speaking to
to the community representative for the coordinating RCO
is that the coordinating RCO took votes
of individuals who are not present at the meeting who merely sent either a letter or a petition which
of individuals who are not present at the meeting
who merely sent either a letter
I haven't seen to this date. So but that's how the vote of three to six against was formed,
my understanding. So after that meeting, we asked the coordinating RCO if we could have another
opportunity to meet because, by the way, we also had a petition at that meeting and we presented it
where those votes weren't counted in support of our project, which are the same, you know,
petition, basically the same petition you're seeing today or you will see today. So eventually
my client was asked to come back. It wasn't a certified meeting because we never send out
notice to the surrounding community. We did, myself and my office, we participated in that
meeting as well. I don't know when a vote was taken. It was a rather long meeting. But after
that meeting with the same presentation, instead of four to three, four by the RCO board, it was
three to four against. So apparently someone switched their vote after meeting with us with
the same project. And then for the surrounding neighborhood, again, we weren't present with the
vote, which is typical. A lot of times people don't vote in front of us, which is truly
understandable. But that meeting, it was seven people for and eight against. Again, I don't
know who was there. I don't know how they voted. I know there's been some discussions since then
with some of the RCOs that they don't believe that the vote was taken accurately. I don't get
into that. I'm just telling you my perspective of what happened. So this is the Allegheny West
Civic Association, and this is their letter. And they mentioned, and we never mentioned this,
but they referenced that we were willing to go to three stories at one point. And that's not the
case. Like, again, as we indicated, Tim, under the affordable housing program, we're allowed 45 feet.
That was a concern of theirs height. So I stated, well, we're actually doing 38 feet. We're just
asking essentially for full, you know, for dimensional variances regarding lot coverage,
as well as rear yard setback which kind of goes in line with you know what they're asking for um
but their opposition had merely to do with more people against their project who voted than
for it um but again i can't speak you know to the fact of who voted when all i can say is that the
first meeting we got a good ovation as to our project and then swan poodle neighborhood
Association sends a letter of support. They were appreciative of the fact that we're providing
affordable housing. They referenced the affordable housing component. They did also indicate
state that they would like confirmation that there's no occupant use on the roof deck and
our refusal states that that the only reason why we have roof deck access is for mechanical access
only which is specifically stated on a refusal and their third request was trash and recycling
stored indoors except at collection times and we'll go through our floor plans but our we have
dedicated trash uh specifically for this project and then they go into the whole you know issue in
terms of what they saw about the voting procedures and things like that and then we also have the
Child Evangelicalism Fellowship. Again, my client, Ms. Scott, it has deep roots within this
community. And Maureen Davis sent a letter of support due to, you know, what she does for this
community. She employs many members of this community. She wants her business to stay in
this community. But given, you know, financial circumstances, she needs to actually, you know,
have a bigger space, a newer space, given marking conditions. And then you'll also see
a letter of support from Assistant Principal Douglas from the Murrell Dobbins High School,
which is nearby, also stressing support because of Ms. Scott's participation in community-oriented
events. And then our petition. Again, my client worked really hard to circulate a petition,
meet with as many neighbors as possible, and, you know, she had pages of petitions of Sangers.
And then, as the board may remember, this board granted a zoning variance for 206 units
next door at 2100-20 West Allegheny Avenue. So it's not all sorts to have an increase in density,
because that's one of our refusals is that we're only allowed six units for a CMX2 property,
we're asking for nine. Here, you know, you have an I-1 property, but 206 units in this neighborhood
Here, you know, you have an I-1 property, but 206 units in this neighborhood pales in comparison to just us asking for nine units.
And here's the notice of refusal as backup.
And we got this all, you know, online.
And then going to our refusal about full law coverage, if you look at 3100 and 3102 North 22nd Street,
not out of character to have full lot coverage, especially on the properties that are towards
the end of the block. And then 3130 North 22nd Street, again, a nearby CMX property with full
lot coverage right here, as you can see. And then 3132 North 22nd Street, again, full lot coverage
just the MX2 property. And then just a little information about Ms. Scott, again, kind of goes
back to what I was saying. You know, she's been in business 20 years. She's done hair for event
goers, you know, for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Grammys, the Kennedy Center Honors. Some of her
clientele include Janet Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Jill Scott, Questlove. And, you know, she's just
well known in the area. You can look at her reviews and she focuses on holistic care care
for the African-American community. And then just the map of the area, we're a CMX2 property. We're
at the corner of 22nd and Lippincott. And then you can see here, you know, we just want to support
this commercial corridor that is on Allegheny Avenue and increasing this density responsibly
like we're trying to do which would be allowed by the zoning code if we took the affordable uh
housing density bonus uh makes sense under the circumstances by having these nine units and then
keeping a bedrock like miss scott's business there will only help matters for for this neighborhood
and then photographs of the property this is the existing building structure from 22nd street
This is the building structure from Whipping Cots. And then I just want to focus the attention. This is the corner of Whipping. So we're, you know, 29, 31, and 33. If you look at 33 here, we have full lot coverage.
so and we have no setback you know there is you know there is a setback and there is some open
area for the other portions of that building structure but the corner property there is no
setback issues I mean there is no setback and there is full lot coverage and you can even see
here further down on this block it's full lot coverage and down here you can see there's full
lot coverage so and over here you can see there's full lot coverage so it's not outsourced what
we're asking for and then just our plans and drawings again Chris Johnson 24-7 design who's
well known with this board his design is trying to be clean with a modern feel but like keeping
you know the the brick facades no bay windows you can see like there will be light and air
not just the residential units but Miss Scott's space and then you can see here this is the door
dedicated to the trash room so again with responsibly storing trash on the first floor
there is no basement living the basement space is merely for the residential uh excuse me the
commercial space and then here are the floor plans uh so you know they have an elevator here
because there is an older portion of this community and they're hoping that like many
of those members who eventually age out of their row homes would consider this especially given
the affordable housing components uh but if you look at this floor plan you have the uh you have
uh you can come off of lipping cots there's an open area for a lobby and an elevator and you can
in terms of the commercial space here uh you have it all on the first floor and then in the lower
level and you can see right here there's a trash room here there's a utility room here we're hoping
to you know make sure that the utilities are not seen from the outside in terms of aesthetically
and then the second through fourth floors are all the same floor plans there's three units
per floor and again you know you can for instance unit one is a one bedroom one bath here
unit two is a two-bedroom, two-bath, and then unit three is, I believe, a two-bedroom, one-bath.
We don't have a roof deck. It was, you know, again, perfectly clear to us because Ms. Scott
knows her neighborhood that roof decks are disfavored for recreational use. We just wanted
it for mechanical access. And then, again, we initially met with the community on June 21st.
And then, again, we initially met with the community on June 21st, 2022, at 6 p.m.
This was the only certified meeting where we actually sent out notices.
We were asked to attend another meeting, which we gladly did, but that was not a certified meeting of an RCO.
62 addresses were notified.
These are the lists of the addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses.
Our application for appeal showing that Amaru LLC is the owner of the property.
our notice refusal, our project information form, our deed to the property, showing that
Emory is the owner of the property, and then our certificate of tax plans. With that being said,
I would ask that Ms. Scott virtually raise her hand so she could adopt my testimony,
and that we'd be more than happy to take any questions. Also, I have Darnell Thomas in the
virtual audience, her partner, who's the general contractor who specializes in affordable housing,
as well as Chris Johnson, a 24-7 design, who's the architect for this project.
Ms. Scott, you're free to speak.
Hello. Hi. My name is Sarita Scott. I am the owner of Amaru. And my goal is solely to hire...
Hold on. Wait one minute. Could you spell your name for the court reporter, please?
Absolutely.
My first name is S-Y-R-E-E-T-A.
My last name is Scott, S-C-O-T-T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Yes, Ms. Scott, you've heard everything I stated today.
Is it true and correct?
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Forgive me, say the last bit.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Okay. And you started testifying. Please go on.
Well, my goal is, as it always been, is to hire more people. We just need more space for that
and to offer affordable living for my community. I've been in business for over 20 some odd years
and that has been my goal. Not so much offering affordable housing, but making sure that I hire
the people around me thank you thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience mr chair this is hillary i just had one quick
question um the refusal doesn't indicate can you hear me okay i'm getting a lot of feedback