It's proof of our mailers.
Photos and plans.
Again, here's what the property looks like from the outside.
It's zoned RSA 5 now.
would not be appropriate or available for them to reconvert this property back or to a single
family home as it had never existed as such. And it's always been what it is, which is a floor plan
What it is, which is a floor plan, as we're going to show you in a second, it's to two bedroom units, one on the second floor, one on the third floor and a commercial space on the first floor.
as we're going to show you in a second.
We have some other photos and then our required documentation deed showing that my client purchased the property in November of 2011.
And finally, their tax clearance certificate.
I don't believe that there is much else to mention here.
If board needs, though I'm sure Planning Commission will confirm, we have up here proof that the two rental licenses were issued as recently as 2013.
And here is the most recent entry in the zoning archive from 1987, showing a duplex with store as existing and as approved at that time.
So with that, I'll ask my client to raise his hand and adopt my testimony.
Are you available, Max?
Yes, I am.
All right. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
My name is Maxim Dablonowski. First name, M-A-K-S-I-M. Last name, Y-A-B-L-O-N-O-V-S-K-I-Y.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Hi, Max. First of all, I apologize for butchering your last name.
That's okay. It's a doozy, I know.
did uh did you hear uh the testimony that i that i put forward regarding 5514 lansdowne avenue
yes i did i was on the whole time okay do you agree what i said and with what i said and do
you adopt it as your own i do okay thank you very much thank you so before we go to questions for
the board hillary what we're considering is only two dwelling units right first four to remain
vacant um yes mr chair um we we cannot do a general um commercial variant i just want to
make sure that we need to we need a specific use or um a specific use category right so we're only
looking at the ctu family aspect today with the first floor remaining vacant okay thank you so
questions from the board relative to that no mr chairman no no mr chairman no mr
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman ian hegarty for the city planning
commission board members in 2021 the zoning map was amended to rsa 5 at this location however the
proposed use conforms to documented prior use of the building city planning commission recommends
that the board grant the variance. Thank you. MI 2022-001-760-5514 Lansdale Avenue. I vote yes
with proviso. Approval is for two dwelling units only. First floor to remain vacant.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso. 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, board.
Number 14, MI 2022-002-180-1345 West Jerome Street.
Vern Anastasio is the attorney.
Letter of support from Nicetown-Taioga Improvement Team.
Morning, Mr. Chair.
Good morning.
Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
It's Vern Anastasio, A-N-A-S-T-A-S-I-O, 2016 Spruce, Philadelphia, 19103.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and relationship to the property?
I represent the owner, Keona Polk.
Our vice chair, Carol Tenere, has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Anastasio.
do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
refusal referral, photos, and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO? And do you have a letter?
Okay, you may proceed and begin to share your screen.
Thank you.
You're fast.
I'm thinking of you all.
make sure you guys can get the lunch as soon as possible. Thank you. So it's for the legalization
can get to lunch as soon as possible. Thank you. So it's for the legalization of
of an addition in the front of this property. And basically my client has taken the front porch and
has covered it. And that's kicked two dimensional variances, a maximum allowed occupied space
went from, well, what is allowed is 75%, but because of the covering of the porch
and we're proposing 81 percent the front setback but the porch was in fact about six feet deep
because it's covered now the porch is is no longer providing said setback this is a very rough block
my client will testify that they have had to deal with you know things that lots of Philadelphia
neighborhoods are having to deal with with respect to crime and lawlessness. My client is
one of several on the block who have had their front porches serving as attractive nuisances to
young people who were not associated with their household, but would ultimately end up loitering
on or around their porches. And there were, you know, several instances that led the police to
come out. As such, my client decided to cover her porch. Again, so did several other neighbors on
the block. And when that in fact happened, she found out after the case that she needed the
proper zoning to do so. As you can see here, the encroachment does not impact the walkway.
The stairs of the house are still well in line with everybody else on the block. It's just the
front porch that was covered and again it was solely for safety reasons my client did in fact
meet with the neighbors 144 individual households were mailed folks did come out on the block
here is the flyer that went out in addition and what we have is a letter of support from
NTITRCO. My client was, in fact, represented by my law partner, Mr. Attorney Harry Cook,
at this particular evening meeting. We do have a tax clearance, and we have our photos and our
plans. We understand that once this is approved, it will have to get reviewed to make sure that
the building code is compliant with safety and engineer reports, and we're readily willing and
able to do that. With that, I'd like to call my client, Keona Polk, to raise her virtual hand.
Ms. Polk, you're free to speak.
Hi, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court reporter?
Sure. My name is, you guys can hear me right?
Okay, great.
My name is Kiana, K-E-Y-O-N-A, last name Polk, P-O-L-K.
Right.
Do you swear, affirm, to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Ms. Polk, did you hear my presentation to the board this morning?
And is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
That's correct, yes.
Okay, and do you adopt it as your own testimony?
And do these dimensional variances, are they, in fact, required to maintain safety and security for your home?
Based on past instances regarding your porch and other porches on the block?
Yes, that's correct.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Chair, I have nothing further.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
Members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends a zoning map change from RM1 to RSA5 single-family zoning on this block.
While we don't believe that the porch of this property needed to be enclosed to overcome a unique physical condition related to the property,
we do acknowledge the presence of at least eight other similar structures on this block that have enclosed front porches.
so the city planning commission has no objection to the granting of these variances thank you
mi 2022 002 180 1345 west jerome street i vote yes harold tenary my vote is yes
thomas halliman my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
thank you all thank you mr council number 15 mi 2022
Number 15, MI 2022, 002-111, 2472, 76th Avenue.
Jerome Harris is the attorney.
Mr. Harris, you've already been sworn.
Just state your name when you come on, please.
And there's a letter of support from the 50th Democratic Board.
Yes, good morning again, Jermaine Harris, counsel for the applicant. This is regarding 2472-76th Avenue.
Thank you. Could you identify your client and the relationship to that property?
Okay. So the client is, again, well, the client is D&J Holdings. And the owner of that company is Jim Brennan. And he's on the call right now. And again, he's the owner of this particular building.
Our Vice Chair, Carol Tenere, has a few questions.
Hi, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal, referral, photos under plans of the property, five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Okay, you may proceed and begin with sharing your screen.
Thank you. Thank you.
Just bear with me.
okay here we go
okay again for your consideration is a variance request uh we're seeking a use variance here
uh we are seeking to uh use a particular property uh 2472 76th avenue we're seeking
to convert it into a triplex. Okay, here we go. What we have here, the property,
I don't know why it's upside down. I apologize, I didn't know it was upside down. Okay,
this is the rear of the building it's a corner property uh and it has three separate entrances
it has a front inch it has a front entrance a side entrance and a back entrance this is the
back entrance this is the side entrance again i apologize uh didn't realize it was upside down
And this would be the front of the building. It's a two-story building with a basement.
And this represents the front. Again, my apologies for it being upside down.
Let me see here. This is another picture of the front.
um now what is sought here again it is a triplex that we're asking for it was previously
approved uh as a two family this is an rsa5 zone it was previously used again it was previously
approved as a two family uh my client is a recent owner of the property he just bought the property
in, I believe it was, he bought the property January of this year. And at the time when he
bought the property, it was being used as a duplex by the owner. And the owner would live there
uh and he would live in the basement so the top two apartments would be used uh as rentals and
the basement would be used as living quarters for the uh the then owner so my client again
he purchased the property with that configuration and essentially they get some plans
Essentially, let me get to the plans.
Thank you.
So this is the basement section that is that my client is seeking to legalize.
and pretty much it has the uh the entrance points right here right here on the side
as well and there are three rooms in this in the uh in the basement uh area you have just
open space right here these are the room the boiler room storage and then the bathroom which
the back which uh the owner installed the previous owner installed and then all of these are the
additional drawings relate to the upper uh floors which is the second floor
and then the third floor so
there was a a community meeting with the art with the coordinating rco which was the 50th ward
and uh there was support by the rco and this letter reflects that the meeting was held on
June the 14th of this year and it was support for this. There were questions about trash. Trash
was going to be stored. Trash would be stored in the rear of the building and essentially what my
client is seeking to do is just legalize this prior use that the owner, previous owner, had
done. It's currently vacant right now. It's still being used as the duplex. And
And we also have the posting, and I'm sorry, again, I apologize.
The posting is in the front of the building, but this is the posting of the zoning notice.
These are the pictures of the unit itself, the vacant unit itself.
Mr. Harris, what's the rest of the block look like? Are there other multi-family units there?
there are no other multi-family units on this block this is the but this property is unique
in the sense that it is a corner property it is large it's extremely large the square footage
of this building a lot size is 3,407 square feet on this and yes here's the deed as well
Evidencing that my client just purchased this property January 18th of this year.
We have the tax clearance.
The refusal letter.
All right.
You want to have your client adopt your testimony?
Mr. Brennan?
uh good morning can you hear me yes could you state your name and spell it please for the
quarter yes uh james brennan j-a-m-e-s b-r-e-n-n-n do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth uh yes i do proceed counsel uh yes uh so mr brennan uh did you hear
the statements that I just made? Yes. Do you adopt those statements as if you were to testify
on it? Now, do you have anything else you'd like to add to the statements that I've made