ZBA Hearing - August 24, 2022

of the facility. There are two signs. The Broad Street sign is double-sided and internally

illuminated and 29 foot four inches to the top from the sidewalk. The McKean Street sign

is double-sided, not illuminated, and 26 feet.

is double-sided not illuminated and 26 feet five inches to the top of the sign

as the chair noted we have received approval from the art commission that letter is at tab six of

the packet and we have met with the rcos at a meeting headed by the south broad street

neighborhood association as lee rco their letter of support unanimous support is attached to the

exhibit packet at tab seven. Um, so we agreed to, uh, the provisos that the, there'd be no after

hours illumination of the signs when the urgent care is closed. Um, and we also agreed that the,

the, uh, the sign on McKeon street would not be illuminated. That was part of the application

because it does face a residential portion of the block.

okay um that's the incentive it's a pretty simple application and would you want to have

your testimony adopted as your client here yes uh with me is uh if she could uh virtually raise

her hand donna walden she's the director of operations at penn medicine

okay hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter yes sir my name is donna walden

first name d-o-n-n-a last name w-a-l-d-e-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole

truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel thank you donna were you present for

the recitation of the facts of the application as i presented them yes i was and was that

recitation true and correct and do you adopt it as your own testimony yes i do questions from the

board no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience mr chair this is hillary um

i just wanted to um clarify with counsel so there there are two provisos you agree to one that the

now only one illuminated sign um that sign would only be illuminated during business hours and then

this this sign on um mckean street would not be illuminated at all is that correct yeah okay

that second proviso i was not aware of so i just wanted to make sure we had them correct

the non-illumination and i apologize if i was confusing the non-illumination on mckean street

that was that was part of the application from the start um the the no okay no after hours

illumination for the broad street sign was a proviso um along with uh proviso that the hours

of the urgent care be 8 a.m to 8 p.m monday through saturday and 8 a.m to 3 p.m on sunday

which they currently are okay yeah and and and i had mentioned to the board and i'll put it on

the record that because this is only an application for signage and um not for the use um we don't

feel it's appropriate to put a proviso for the hours of operation um but we can we can if the

board decides to grant put a proviso regarding the illumination and thank you for clarifying that

only one of the signs is illuminated so we don't need a proviso for that if that's already in the

plans correct thank you questions or comments from the virtual audience chair we have peter zutter

Hi. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?

Sure. My name is Peter Zutter, P-E-T-E-R-Z-U-T-T-E-R. I'm president of the South Broad Street

Neighborhood Association and live at Forty South.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do.

Proceed.

I have nothing further to add to what was already in our letter.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to call, sir.

anyone else in the virtual audience i see no hands here planning commission thank you mr

chairman david fecto city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends no change

from the commercial mixed use zoning at this location the proposed static illuminated

projecting signs are consistent with prior permits granted for this property so the city

planning commission recommends the board grant the dimensional variances for the placement of

the static illuminated project and signs. Thank you. MI 2022-002-763-1930 South Broad Street,

I vote yes with proviso. Signs only illuminated during business hours.

Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso. James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.

Ishmael Shaheed, yes with proviso. Thank you. Thank you, counsel. Thank you.

Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 2 p.m. case has not been called?

I see no handshare. We're going to go to

the afternoon 3 30 list. My name is Bill Bergman and I will be chairing this afternoon's meeting.

My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's meeting. With me is Ishmael Shahid, our board secretary.

With me is

Present, Mr. Chairman.

Thomas Holliman, our board member.

Present, Mr. Chairman.

James Snell, our board member.

Present, Mr. Chairman.

Our executive director is also here, Tanya Sunkit, and our board attorney, Hillary Emerson.

Be advised, proceedings are being recorded.

By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. A video will be available.

by contacting TanyaSunkett at phila.gov.

For the benefit of our court stenographer,

we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.

If you are participating by phone, if you wish to testify,

press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.

To enter an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.

Leave your email address and your address of the property in question.

and finally the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony

all comments have to be sent to our executive director tanya sunken before we start i have

a couple announcements to make effective july 18 2022 if the case is continued attorney or

applicant moving party, the attorney or applicant has 90 days from the date the cases continue

to enter a request, a new hearing date, ask for an extension of moving party status,

or withdraw the case. If ZBA staff is non-contacted, by the end of the 90-day period,

the case will be automatically listed for a new hearing date. Please note, extension for moving

party status must be sent to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett, with Board Attorney

Hilary Emerson in copy. Two, ZBA staff is currently sending out letters to listed applicants on

appeals filed prior to 2019 if the case has been pending and hold status. If an applicant or their

attorney does not contact ZBA staff to discuss the next steps for their case within the time period

stated in the letter, the case will be considered abandoned administratively closed. Questions about

either of these policies should be directed to Executive Director Tanya Sunkett and Board

Attorney Hillary Emerson. So let's look at our continuations. Number two, MI 2022-002-118-2305

Palthorpe Street that case is continued. Number three MI 2021 004660 1233 East Luzerne Street

that case is continued. And number seven MI 2022 001 988 5452 North Fish Street

that case is continued attorney moving part so anyone has comments relative to the cases that

have been continued i see no handshare are there any other requests for continuance

i see no handshare we're going to move right to case number one mi 2022 02119 945 north

40th Street. Lynn Nichols is the attorney. Letter of support from East Parkside Residence, RCO.

However, they have some concerns about overcrowding and rear entrance to basement apartments.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Hi. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter,

please. Lynn Nichols, L-Y-N-N, last name N-I-C-H-O-L-S. Right. Do you swear or affirm

to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Yes. Could you identify your client

and their relationship to the property? Yes. Mr. Kelton Phillips, he's the owner,

Philip, he's the owner of the property. Thank you. Mr. Howellman,

could you do some follow-up questions for me? Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?

Yes, I do.

Did you email all of the exhibits and documents required, such as proof of ownership, tax clearance, copy of the refusal, referral, pictures or drawings of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, and did you meet with the RCO, and do you have a letter?

Yes, we do.

yes we do thank you please proceed and share your screen if it uh may i have permission from

Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.

if it

the board to stop my video i'm concerned that i might have some lagging sure thank you

you're up thank you um members of the board in my presentation as you can see

The property is located at the corner of 40th near Wailusing Avenue.

We have in our packet the zoning permit, the application for appeal, the project information form, the deed showing that the property owner purchased the property in 2007.

We also have the certificate of tax clearance. Here is a photo looking across from 945 North

40th Street. This is a view of where it's located at the corner near 40th and Wylusing.

Here's a view of the property looking to the right of 945 North 40th Street towards Girard Avenue.

this is a view looking to the left of 945 north 40th street in the left of this photo you see

the entrance to apartment a which is up the steps this is a view looking at 945 north 40th street

and you see the entrance of the property which is here where the gray part of the building is

located that's for apartment a this is a side view of 945 north 40th street you're seeing here

the entrance to apartment B, and in the rear is the entrance to apartment C, which I'm now

showing you a photo of. This is the entrance to apartment C. These are the impacted neighbors that

we notified. This is the proof of mailing, the zoning notice that was posted, as well as the

refusal. As you can see, we're asking for a multifamily dwelling. These are the plans,

which I'm going to now turn so that you can see them.

This is another view of the plans.

As you can see from the plans,

the space in the building is sufficient

to accommodate the applicant's request.

Here we have, and it's just, okay,

We have 1,000, approximately 1,035 square feet in apartment C.

We have sufficient space in apartment A as well as apartment B.

On this page, we have the notification from the RCO regarding their position on this property.

While I know that there were concerns about the development of the property,

this is a developer in the neighborhood who is known and respected.

and he worked with the RCO to address their concerns.

At this time, I would like to note for the board

that it would be an economic hardship for the applicant

if this variance wasn't granted.

This is a unique property in terms of the size

and the physical characteristics

and it would present an economic hardship for him

if this variance weren't granted,

as well as the fact that the variance we seek

represents the least modification of the code

to provide relief,

as well as no action on our part will increase congestion in this neighborhood. If you look at

one of the photos of the property, I'll go back to, it's located next door to two vacant properties

that are not developed at all. You see in this picture, there are two vacant properties next to

it. So it's not going to increase the congestion in the neighborhood and it won't substantially

permanently harm any of the neighbors or their use of the properties or impair lighter air,

nor will it increase traffic congestion in the public streets or place an undue burden

on the water sewer or other public facilities. It won't increase or create environmental damage,

pollution, erosion, or danger of flooding. And as stated, I can't, you know, state enough that

it would be an economic hardship if this variance weren't granted for him to continue as he has done.

He's taken well care of this property in this neighborhood, as you can see.

So at this time, I would like to call Mr.

Phillip to adopt my testimony.

Hi, Mr. Phillips.

Yes.

Hi, Mr. Phillips, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?

Yes. Philip Kelton. P-H-I-L-I-P-K-E-L-T-O-N.

Yes, Phillip Kelton.

P-H-I-L-I-P.

I apologize. I've been calling you Kelton.

Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, to hold truth, nothing but the truth?

I do.

Proceed, counsel.

Good afternoon. Have you heard my testimony here today?

I have.

Do you agree with and adopt the testimony as it's been presented to the board?

I do.

Thank you. I have nothing further. Does the board?

Counsel, tell me the setup of apartment C.

So apartment C, if I could show you the photograph here.

The entrance is over in the back.

Correct. So it's a split level apartment.

It's not all on one level.

part of it begins in the back of apartment a um which is located the apartment a as you can see

from this photograph is here and the beginning of apartment c starts in the back of apartment a so

it's split level it's and it goes into the basement part of it does yes where's the bedroom

um i believe one of the bedrooms are in the basement okay and there's appropriate exits

out of the basement? No, there's an exit that if you want to see the plans, I can show you the

plans again. Yeah, sure. So as you can see here on the plan, this is apartment A. Can you see where

my arrow is? This is apartment A. There's a stairway that leads up to apartment B. Apartment C

is here and there's an exit in the rear of the property and there's an exit on the side of the

property as well which is the one that i showed you okay thank you questions from the board

no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience

i see no handshake planning commission may i stop sharing my screen you can thank you

Planning Commission. This is Ron Bednar, first name Ron, R-O-N, last name Bednar, B-E-D-N-A-R.

Do you swear, affirm, tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?

I do. Proceed, Ron. While this property is currently indicated for commercial mixed use

on the city plan, given the physical site conditions, we have no objection to the grant.

Thank you.

MI 2022-002-119-945 North 40th Street, I vote yes.

Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.

James Snell, my vote is yes.

Ishmael Shaheen, my vote is yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, counsel.

Thank you.

Have a good day.

Number four, MI-2022-001-937-1122 South Broad Street.

Sean Ward is the attorney.