Thank you.
Okay, Chair, we have 35 attendees, and we can start as you wish.
Okay, good.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's EBA hearings.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ishmael Shaheed.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Thomas Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and also our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised, proceedings are being 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 testify.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
To win an appearance statement, call 267-270-5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question and answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
Any comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
So let's look at continuances that we have for this morning.
Number three, MI 2022-006-537-1028 Lindley Avenue.
That case is continued.
Number six, MI-2022-006-363-6229 Christian Street. That case is continued.
you. Number 10, MI 2022-006-705-2000 Larry Street. That case is continued, attorney moving party.
And number 11, MI-2022-006-365-1535 Deal Street. That case is continued. Does anyone have any
questions about the cases I've just listed? Good morning, Chair. This is Fatina L. I'll be
your co-host for today. Thank you. You're welcome. I see no hands, Chair. Okay. Number seven, MI-2022
006-367
Germantown Avenue.
Oliver Cooper is the owner.
Would he please come forward?
Excuse me, Chair. A hand went up
right after we spoke.
So do you want me to allow
them to speak in reference to the continuance
as Brad? Sure. Let's see who that
This is Van, last name NNNW.
Yes. Hello. Hi. I am calling in regards to 6229 Christian Street. I'm sorry. I'm not familiar with the language. I just want to be clear when you say continue. This is proceeding for today's meeting. I just want to be clear.
six. Let me see here. Six. Okay. So this case has been continued. The property is not properly
posted. The applicant has been advised of that. So when that case is posted, it'll be re-listed.
Okay. Excuse me, Mr. Chair, can we have the speaker identify themselves and be sworn in?
Sure. Sure. Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
uh yes this is vandalin waring
spell your name please for the court reporter sure it's v as in victor a n d as in david e-l-y-n
last name w-a-r-i-n-g right do you swear or affirm tell the truth the whole truth nothing
but the truth are you a neighbor yes okay so that case has been continued okay it wasn't posted
Okay. So that case has been continued. Okay.
It wasn't posted properly and the owner has been notified to post it and we
properly in the
will bring it back in front of the board.
Okay. Thank you.
Let me go back to case number seven.
MI 2022 006 367 4226 Germantown Avenue.
Oliver Cooper, please.
i see no hands at this time chair okay so that case is uh we have no limit uh exhibits it's the
first listing the council person bass is also and the coordinating rco have requested continuances
so 7 mi 2022 006 367 42 44 26 germtown avenue that case has been continued to continue are there
any other requests for continuances? Chair, we have Andrew Goodman. Okay.
Hi, good morning, Mr. Goodman. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, Andrew Goodman, A-N-D-R-E-W-G-O-O-D-M-A-N, here representing the office of Third District
council member jamie gaudier right do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes i do what case sir just checking to see if 1003 south 51st street will
also be continued um i'm getting ready to call that right now that we have no exhibits for that
case so that was going to be my first case i'm calling so okay all right so you you you will
hear in one minute. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Sure. So cases what we were looking for exhibits
for number two, MI 2022-006-702-1003 South 51st Street. James Donnelly is the listed owner. We
have no exhibits. This is the first listing. I see no hands, chair. Okay. So MI 2022-006-702-1003-South
51st Street, that case is continued. Number five. Excuse me, chair. We have a hand up.
okay jared last name ended in l as in line okay uh yes hi could you hi good morning could you
state your name please and spell for the court reporter sure it's jared is j-a-r-e-d
last name is lauderbach is l-a-u-t as in tom e-r-b as in boy a-c-h right do you swear or
firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do what case are you interested
there uh 1003 south 51st street okay so this is the first listing of the case we have no exhibits
at this point the council person is in opposition to this appeal we have continued the case and you
will be notified are you neighbor i'm i'm the owner actually jim james donnelly i bought the
property from him it's just at the city of course he's listed the owner okay well so we have no
exhibits as at this point. Okay. I don't know what's an exhibit. And that means you have to
send all the paperwork in to the zoning board. We haven't received your paperwork yet. And so,
and also the council person is in opposition to the appeal, but we still need all your paperwork.
Okay. All right. So what I would recommend to do, the easiest thing is get ahold of our office.
They will tell you exactly what you need to do. Okay. All right. Thank you. All right. And thank
Thank you for calling in and explaining that.
Okay, thank you.
that case has been continued. Are there any other requests for continue, which is or withdrawals?
I see no hands, Chair. Okay, we're going to go to our regular list. Number one on the list,
MI 2022-006-423-1733-67th Avenue. Jermaine Harris is the attorney. We have a letter of support
from the 10th Ward Democratic Committee, RCO, and a letter of support from Council Member Phillips.
Mr. Harris is coming back in as a panelist. Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Harris. Good morning, Mr. Bergman. Good to see you.
Could you state your name, spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, my name is Jermaine Harris, and I'm the attorney for the owner, applicant Cinderella
realty llc my name uh is spelled j-e-r-m-a-i-n-e last name is spelled h-a-r-r-i-s
do you swear or for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do our vice chair has just a few questions for you sir sure good morning counselor do you agree
to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy i do have you emailed all the
required documents and exhibits five days in advance to proceed with this case?
Yes, I have.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Just want to make sure my screen is now shared and it can be seen.
It is up, sir.
All right.
So this is concerning the property at 1733 67th Avenue.
And what my client, Cinderella Realty, is seeking to do is to legalize the use of this building.
It is in a RSA 5 zoned area, which is a single family area.
And it has been used as a three-family prior to my client's purchase.
My client purchased the property in 2021.
So right now, what we have here is pictures of the exterior of the building right here that you can see on the screen.
You'll note that it is three levels and there are three levels of egress in this property.
It has the first level of egress is the front door.
The second is this fire escape right here on the second floor which was installed by
the previous owner.
actually it's four levels four manners i'm sorry four uh levels of uh egress it's the side
the side the fire escape and the front front door
and then there are rear windows in the first level
so if we go to the exhibit packet here we have uh again pictures of the building the front of
the building this is where there was posting of the zoning uh notice the hearing notice for today
And this is the zoning notice itself that was posted in the front of the property right here.
Now, this property, I opened by saying that this property has been, my client purchased the property in 2021, September 2021.
And this is the ad that was used that my client relied on when he purchased the property.
And if you see it from the realtor, from, I guess, Redfin, it has that the property is the end of a row.
It's been used as a multifamily for over 30 years.
And the property was also rehabbed.
So, since my client purchased the property, it's not currently being used as a three-family. It's only being used as a one-family, which is on the lower level. The other two levels are completely vacant and unoccupied.
the other two levels are completely vacant uh and unoccupied this is the first floor that was
that is occupied you know what before i get to that let's let let me get to the actual
the drawings of this so uh you can see what the layout is
so the building is laid out as a three family uh this is the first floor and it's two bedrooms in
the front two bedrooms in the front living room and a kitchen in the rear all of the this all of
these are two bedrooms one bath this is the second level living room is in the front two bedrooms
in the rear then we have the fire escape of the second floor uh and this leads to the exterior
to the to the exterior steps of the fire escape third floor is roughly the same layout uh except
there is no fire escape but there is a uh two bedrooms uh a living room in the front of the
building and then two bedrooms
as you go towards the
side and go towards the rear
of the building
as far as the
interior
which I was touching upon
earlier this is the base
this is the first level
this is the second level that's unoccupied
again these are two bedrooms that were this place was rehabbed before my client bought it
but this is what it is and that's the current condition of it
And this is the third floor leading up into the third floor, which is the same, again, the same layout of two bedrooms, one bath.
We just went over the plans.
we had a presentation uh we had a presentation on uh march 30th in front of the rco uh which was
the 10th war democratic uh committee and it was a pretty good turnout for it to be a zoom
it was 17 people there uh we did our presentation and after concerns addressing
any concerns that the neighbors had and questions uh there was a vote in favor of this for 13 of 4
uh for granting uh for granting the use variance that's requested and it has it right here
Also, what I have here is the rental history of this block has a significant number of residential multifamily dwellings on that block.
We have seven multifamilies starting 1701, 1717, 67th Avenue, 1719, 1725, 1731, which is right next door to this particular property.
1734, which is directly across the street from the 1733 property, and 1801, because this is the end of the road, right at the next block, at the very beginning of the next block, is also a multifamily as well.
So we have the tax clearance of this particular property, as well as the evidence of ownership showing that this property was bought a year and a half ago, September 14th of 2021.
one. And then we have the notice of refusal that it's in a RSA five district. So single family
is not permitted under that zoning classification and the refusal on the application.
And we would submit that this would be a significant hardship for
We would submit that this would be a significant hardship for Cinderella Realty to convert this to a single family.
We understand that the zoning classification is that. But as you can see from the layout of this building, it's already been chopped up into three units, has a fire escape.
it would be to convert it back to a single family could not be done without great significant
expense. And that would be a significant hardship. We would just ask that this board
allow for the use of this property that has been used for 30 years as a multifamily for it to be
legalized. And I would open it up for any questions that the board may have. Also, I have the owner
on online as well, Mr. Lamont Thomas, who is the owner of Cinderella Realty as well.
Why don't you call, Mr. Harris, call the owner and he can adopt your testimony, okay?
Okay. Mr. Thomas, can you raise your hand? Hello, can you hear me? Yes. Could you please
state your name, sir, and spell for the court reporter? Lamont Thomas, L-A-M-O-N-T-T-H-O-M-A-S.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do. Proceed, counsel. Yes, Mr. Thomas, did you hear the testimony that I just presented to the
uh to to the zoning board yes sir is there anything you want to add or do you agree in full
with what i presented to the uh to the board i agree in full okay thank you thank you okay
what questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no handshare planning commission good morning chair bergman david fecto f-e-c-t-e-a-u
with the city planning commission do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes sir i do thank you thank you sir thank you uh good morning chair
and members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single
family zoning at this location. This property has been a duplex since 1952, according to the
zoning archive. The split into three dwelling units appears to have been done relatively recently.
There may be a hardship if the applicant were required to remove the third unit. So the city
planning commission recommends that the board grant the use variants for three dwelling units.
Thank you. MI 2022-006-423-1733-67th Avenue, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, I vote yes. James Snell, I vote yes. Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Harris. Thank you. May I be excused? You can, sir. Okay, take care.
Number four, MI 2022-006-536-800 North Carlisle Street, number T1-143764.
Brandon Savron is the attorney.
Recommendation of support from the United Franciville Civic Association and Streets Department prerequisite approval has been received.
Mr. Saverin is coming back in as a panelist here.
Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Saverin.