Yes, my client or clients are 2-1-1-6-7 LLC and 2-1-1-9 and 7th LLC. And in the virtual audience
is Dmitry Kordetsky. Dmitry Kordetsky. Thank you. And our vice chair has just a few questions,
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal or stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have. Yes, we have.
Please proceed.
Thank you.
So, I'm here to present 217 North 7th Street and a couple cleanup items. First is the notice of refusal. My understanding is that Ms. Emerson wants an updated refusal because it does not specifically reference the proposed consolidation of these two lots, even though it has been applied for and it's in Eclipse.
So my understanding is that the board's going to hold this matter under advisement until that notice of refusal is updated.
Also, I do believe we now do have the certificates of tax clearance.
I believe in the transfer of me to a panelist, I thought I heard somewhere where it was indicated that there were no certificates of tax clearance.
We do have them now in our session.
But during our presentation, we're going to review the current notice of refusal.
the current notice of refusal and there was actually a notice refusal that existed before
And there was actually a notice refusal that existed before that.
then uh which um also it stated you know which where we modified the project to make it closer
in conformance to the philadelphia zoning code and we'll show you what we mean by that we do
have correspondence from apm the coordinating our sale it was not a well-attended meeting
there were four individuals who voted, one in support and three not in favor.
I attended that meeting, so I actually only saw three people, but neither here nor there,
there weren't that many people there. We did canvass the neighborhood both before and after
the meeting. So we were actually very surprised that the individuals in attendance were not in
supported this project because the people that we talked to were actually enthusiastically in
support of this project. I would also state that during the meeting, no zoning-related matters
were discussed. It had more to do with the poor workmanship of properties being built in the
neighborhood, about how expensive the rents were, but had nothing to do with the merits of this
pending zoning appeal. Then we're going to look at comparable projects that this zoning board has
approved by way of variance in the neighborhoods. And then we'll review the Philadelphia 2035 Lower
North District Plan, where our project and the Spiritist contract project fulfills the needs
of Philadelphia 2035. We'll then review maps of the area. And I'd like to point out that these
these are RM1 lots. We're just asking for greater density. That's allowed on the right.
Then we'll review photographs of the property in the surrounding area, our plans and drawings,
our RCO meeting notice. And again, there weren't that many people that showed up to that meeting.
Our applications for appeal, the deeds of the property, showing that 21167 LLC and 2119N7 LLC
are the owners of the property and their certificates of tax clearance. And again,
in the virtual audience, I do have Dimitri, the owner's representative, who will answer a few
questions I have about this project to confirm my testimony as his own. Notice of refusal. Again,
just to highlight, these are RM1 properties. We're looking to put 16 one-bedroom units
in here, and we have three refusals. First, the unit count, based on the size of a lot of the
property, we're only allowed to build eight units as of right. What we're looking to do is have
16 one-bedroom units. If we did not consolidate these properties, we would have two quadplexes
here. And as I will go further in my presentation, those type of projects have been very unsuccessful
in the neighborhood. It was discussed at the community meeting about how there's so many
vacant apartment units in this neighborhood of like the duplex, the triplex, and the complex use.
We are looking at a different business model here to have 16 one-bedroom units. And it's actually
reflected in the summary of the meeting that APM gave to the board, but we'll go over that when we
go over the letter that they sent. The second refusal has to do with the maximum occupied area
where 75% is allowed and 84.68% is proposed. We'll review the prior notice of refusal where
We had a greater variance request after our office reviewed it with the client and the architect, and even prior to the community meeting.
We proposed to have a project that was more responsible from a variance standpoint, so we decreased the amount of variance there unilaterally.
And then same thing with rear yard depth, where, you know, under the code, we're required to have rear yard depth of nine feet, whereas we're proposing seven feet, four inches, you'll see from this next notice of refusal, where zero feet was proposed.
And, you know, again, our office with the architect and the client looked at this and, you know, we did not believe that that was a responsible use of the property and, you know, the least modification allowed or desirable under the Philadelphia zoning code.
So we increased the amount of rear yard depth to try to meet the requirements of the code.
But because of the configuration of the apartment building, and in order to provide more spacious units, we're asking for this to minimize variance.
We're asking for this, the minimus variance.
So this is the original.
So this is the original notice of refusal that we filed with, you know, or that we received and we filed as part of our original zoning appeal.
We did not, you know, change the amount of units.
We think 16 units, which would be 16 one-bedroom units, is responsible for using this property given marking conditions in this neighborhood.
um the second refusal again the the you know maximum occupied area was you know proposed of
82.7 percent which again we decreased that variance by way of this update previous up
previously viewed updated refusal and then the rear yard depth originally we proposed zero rear
yard depth again you know talking to the architect and my client i stated you know we need this rear
yard for two reasons. We need it. We're not proposing a roof deck, but we need a common
area for all the residents to congregate. In addition, we need an area of the outdoor space
where there is, you know, common access from front to back to allow for responsible trash
storage. So again, we pointed out to our client and the architect, it was really important to
make sure we met those two needs, create a sense of community within this apartment building,
and also responsibly store trash. And that's why we increased the rear yard depth for those two
purposes. And then again, the rear yard area was originally 144, was supposed to be under the
Philadelphia code, zoning code, 144 square feet, whereas zero square feet was proposed. Now we're
over 500 square feet of a rear yard area. And so again, not only do we meet the Philadelphia
zoning code, but we have created a sense of community by way of these modifications to the
project. So we met with APM. Again, there are only four people that showed up. One in support,
three not in favor. And again, when I looked at the audience, there were only three people who
actually voted but i'm not going to say i don't care if it's if it's four or three that's clearly
not a mandate by this community um if one person would have changed their vote it would have been
a tie um but what if you look at what you know they stated and this is what i'm gonna state to
the zoning board uh we you know what we've been hearing from the community and many communities
like this is that um people need to responsibly uh downsize like there are a lot of members of
this community who no longer want to take care of their single-family homes, but they want to
remain in the neighborhood. So we built this property on grade. So there are a number of
all the units on the first floor would be accessible to the more senior members of the community.
What we also heard is that there's really not that many one-bedroom apartments in the
neighborhood again you're dealing with a lot of these duplexes triplexes fiveplexes where you know
in order to justify its existence you're looking at minimum two-bedroom units and most of them are
three-bedroom units and they're not very efficient that you know they don't have a common area for
people to congregate on ground level they don't have a place to store their trash on ground level
responsibly so and again most people don't want to be in two bedrooms or three bedrooms they don't
want to take care of that much and it's not affordable and this community even stated that
there are so many two-bedroom apartments and three-bedroom apartments they're just been
buildings are vacant and so my client is looking to you know to accept PHA vouchers for this
16 one-bedroom units where you know the elderly portion of this neighborhood could responsibly
downsize and then in addition you know you have like their kids who may not want to live with mom
and dad, but they want to live nearby and they want affordable housing. And so that's the other
demographic we're looking at. We're looking at the elderly who are looking to downsize and we're
looking at the younger generation who are trying to keep close to their parents who may need that
additional assistance, but they don't want to live with their parents. So, and again, by taking
PHA vouchers, this will make it a more affordable project for all involved. And then, so my clients,
i i think did an excellent job of of canvassing the neighborhood um and you know before the
community meeting he did a great job when he saw that he only got when he got one person to support
at the meeting and three against he did he went back and hit as many of the properties as he could
um you'll see that there's a lot of vacant lots around here um we're near a commercial quarter
We're near a commercial quarter, which, you know, this extra density will help support that commercial quarter.
which you know this this extra density will help
But you can see he got a lot of addresses in support.
And this is the petition.
Letters to support he also got separately.
And then comparable projects.
So this board heard 2215 North 7th Street for increase of density.
These were CMX2 properties.
So the only difference is one of the refusals had to do with basically swapping out the commercial unit for residential use.
But the density was not there based on the square footage of the lot.
This board actually approved that variance request under similar circumstances in 2020.
And then the Lower North District Plan, right?
So this is what the Lower North District Plan states.
Encourage development assets. The gap tooth effect of numerous vacancies makes for an inconsistent and at times unsafe public realm. The lack of populated edges and eyes on the street is especially a concern around destinations such as park and recreational facilities, commercial corridors, and shopping centers. Local communities could benefit from prioritizing these areas for redevelopment efforts.
Again, we're very close to Germantown Avenue, which is supposed to be a commercial corridor, which has not been able to get, you know, its footing.
I think that adding these amount of units, 16 one-bedroom units for, you know, for people who are downsizing the community, some people who want to move back into the community, the kids, creating these smaller households will hopefully help this commercial corridor out.
And then it talks about commercial corridors and shopping centers.
And we're not that far from like Sixtenburg's where Cousins is like that shopping center to commercial quarters and shopping centers.
Population loss has reduced the foot traffic that normally support stores and businesses.
Large areas of large areas of vacancy, vacancy adjacent to existing businesses also detract from the levels of activity that normally make a quarter feel like a destination worth visiting and a place to stop.
Prioritizing commercial and residential development on and adjacent to the corridor could assist in restoring street life and customers, as well as raising perceptions of safety.
Again, this community, like many communities in Philadelphia, is struggling because of that lack of eyes on the street.
Vacant lots, unfortunately, encourage bad behavior within those vacant lots.
My client's always trying to, there's a ton of dumping on their lot.
They're trying to always clean it up.
They try to fence it up, but then the fence gets broken down.
I think at least one of these lots has been vacant for some time.
I think the time has come.
These are RM1 lots.
We just need extra density, you know, to be able to build this.
We're not going to get financing without having this extra density.
And, you know, that's the 2035 plan.
And then we recently found this article about urban blights and how like having vacant lots or not having vacant lots more appropriately reduces firearm violence.
And there's been studies about that. So in order to make our city safer and our neighborhood safer, we do have to responsibly develop our properties.
We're looking towards the zoning board to say, hey, not everyone wants a 2,000-square-foot residential unit.
Some people only want 1,000-square-foot residential units.
They want one bedroom, one bath, open floor plans for living room and dining room with nice amenities as well as nice finishes, and that's what we're looking to do here.
And in the maps of the area, I mean, this is as multifamily a neighborhood or at least zoned multifamily a neighborhood as you can see here.
But because of the restrictions of the zoning that currently exists, it's not feasible to build multifamily under current market conditions.
And again, here's Germantown Avenue.
We're like a block and a half away from Germantown Avenue, which should be a thriving commercial corridor.
And then photographs of the property were a vacant lot.
You know, here's our proof of the orange notice poster that we posted to the property.
And then this is the property, one of them, that's been vacant for some time.
And then as you can see from the aerial view, this is the neighborhood in a nutshell.
We got this off of Atlas, but there's a lot of, a lot of vacant lots here.
We're hoping that some of these projects that are being approved with additional and responsible density will encourage other builders to build as well, which will then help support the commercial core.
This is our property from both the left and right perspectives.
And these are our plans and drawings.
And these are our plans and drawings. As you can see, you know, we're staying within the height limitation. We're building on grade, like, you know, on the first floor. We're trying to do a responsible project. And you can see on the right-hand side is where everyone will have access during, you know, alongside a gated walkway to the rear of the property.
As you can see, we're staying within the height limit.
and you can see here like there's a significant open area of 524 square feet a rear yard
does not meet the nine foot rear yards you know depth that's required but the rear yard
itself is over over 500 square feet
trying to
listen it there we go
and then this is just our
trying to get the
oh this is our survey
which shows how we're consolidating the two lots
Just get it to work. And these are our floor plans. Again, each floor has four units. There were four floors to this building. The first floor also has a lower level, so those are bi-level units.
and then again there's no roof deck here
and again we met with the community on february 8th
and we emailed the notice to the community groups um on uh january 26th we also mailed it out
january 26th 160 addresses were notified this meeting four people showed up to vote
again i think it has to do with a lot of vacant lots people don't feel safe you know coming to
out to community meetings at night sometimes in this neighborhood but we mailed it out
you know on behalf of of our client
and these are deeds their property and most importantly let me just get the tax clearance
so it shows that 2117 no money's owed and then 2119 the only amount that's owed is $1,536.98
with coincides with the real estate taxes that would be due for the 2024 tax year
with that being said I would ask that Dimitri virtually raise his hand
they have been allowed to speak hi sir could you please state your name and spell for the court
stenographer hello uh dimitri gordetsky last name g-o-r-o-d-e-t-s-k-y first name d-m-i-t-r-y
do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do sir please proceed counsel oh yes uh dimitri you heard everything i had to state
today about your zoning matter yes i did and is it true and correct absolutely and do you adopt
this in your own testimony i don't thank you questions from the board
no question is there comments from our attorney hillary emerson
um just briefly mr chair um mr dockamson is there um is this a project that is going to involve
uh the housing authority at all or or partnering with them in any way i'm just asking for a conflict
check for one of our board members? No, but what I state is my client's business model is to accept
vouchers from PHA. Okay. All right. No problem. Thank you. And are there revised plans? I thought
the RCO letter mentioned there were some changes, but I didn't see any revised plans in your
submission. Yeah. And I was going to mention that. So I think they misunderstood. So we had
original plans on the original refusal we updated our refusal to increase the rear yard depth from
zero feet to seven feet four inches we also by doing that eliminated the refusal for rear yard
area as well as as well as lessened the refusal for occupied area so i think they misunderstood
So I said I before we had zero rear yard. Now we have seven feet, four inches.
Got you. Thank you for the thank you for the clarification. And with the with the tax clearance on 2119, it looked like there were still other balances listed on there from other years.
I know it says on the top one thing, but then it has other balances listed underneath.
I know it says on the top one thing, but then it has other balances listed underneath.
So I'm-
So, yeah, I don't know.