else in the audience whose case hasn't been pulled
i do not see any hands mr chair wait wait wait i have a mr diane monroe with her hand raised
okay miss monroe please unmute and wait to be sworn in um hello hi could you state your name
and spell for the court reporter uh yes um let me turn my speaker up a little i'm sorry you
talking about this case? No, that case is over. Okay. I said, is there anyone waiting for a case
to be heard? It could have been the first one and I didn't get on until maybe about 936. So the
first case, the first case. I'm sorry, ma'am. 1007 Brandywine Street. Did you do that? That case was
continued ma'am oh really i'm sorry okay thank you put your reference put your question in a q a
thank you chair is there anyone else uh who's waiting on a case to be heard
do not see anyone mr chair thank you everyone see everybody at two
begin recording and now you go forward as you wish chair good afternoon my name is bill bergman
i will be chairing this afternoon's eba hearings with me is ishmael shaheed our board secretary
president mr chair thomas holliman our board member present mr chairman james snell our board
member. Present, Mr. Chairman. Also here is our Executive Director, Director Tanya Sunkett,
and our Attorney, Hillary Emerson. Before we begin, here's our virtual format. Be advised
these proceedings are being recorded. By participating, you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded. The 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're 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 the address of the property in question. And lastly, please note the question
answer box on the screen is not for testimony or comments. Any comments should be directed to
Tanya Sunkit, our board secretary. Hold on a minute, our board administrator, I'm sorry.
Hold on a minute. Our board of ministry, I'm sorry.
And here's our continuances for the San Francisco.
Number six, MI 2021-004041.
This is a reconsideration hearing for MI 2021-001866.
This particular contingence will be marked must be tried.
Number seven, MI 2021, 001278, 2446 North 21st Street.
Number 13, MI 2021, 003957, 3440 North 18th Street.
and number 14, MI-2022-000-295-601 West Cliveland Street.
That is Attorney Movement Party.
Those four cases will be continued.
Are there any comments or statements
relative to those cases?
Mr. Chair, I have Rachel Pritzker with her hand raised.
I have allowed you to speak.
hi miss pritcher you've already been sworn thank you um rachel r-a-c-h-a-e-l pritzker p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r
um i represent the owner for 1820 venango and actually i'm part of ownership for this project
as well i appreciate the board allowing this to be a must be heard and given this has been sitting
at the pleasure of the council person
would just ask if we could get
as soon of a rehearing date as possible.
As you can imagine, we are paying loans
and things of that nature while we sit and wait.
So appreciate the must be certain requests.
I will talk to Tanya about that
and I'm sure she'll do what she can.
Wonderful. Thank you very much.
Anyone else relative to the continuances?
sir i have mr sean ward with us i will allow him to speak at this time
good afternoon sean state your name and spell for the court reporter please
uh yes mr chairman sean ward s-h-a-w-n-w-a-r-d um i am inquiring about 4227 east thompson street
MI 2021-005-160.
I'm not sure.
I logged on a second late
and I don't know if that was continued or not.
Let's see, which one is that?
I submitted my request yesterday afternoon,
so I don't know if it made it to the board in time.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary.
That is on the 3.30 list.
Oh, I'm sorry.
My bad.
That's okay.
But we did receive it.
Okay, very good.
thank you any other continuances for the two o'clock list
i have darlene three with her hand raised i have allowed her to speak at this time
hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
good afternoon commissioner darlene three on behalf of the applicant
do you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth what what case
3438 North Carlisle I logged on a minute late myself and I see in the comments is smart continued
um hold on a minute I didn't I didn't get to that yet did I here it is here
um I did not continue that's number 12 right yes no that's not okay very well thank you sir
Is there any other continuances?
I have Mr. David Orphanides with his hand raised.
I have allowed him to speak at this time, sir.
Hi, Mr. Orphanides.
You've already been sworn to state your name.
Certainly.
David Orphanides, D-A-V-I-D, last name Orphanides, O-R-P-H-A-N-I-D-E-S.
Is it number 11?
uh mi2022000305262533 jefferson yes sir i'd like to request a continuance so that we can uh
have further meetings and discussions with the uh the community that case
mi20220003052635 to 33 jefferson street cases continue thank you that concludes my business
may be excused. Thank you. Absolutely. Any other continuances?
I see Mr. Henry Clinton with his hand rights. I've allowed him to speak, sir.
good afternoon henry could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
Good afternoon, Henry. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
sure my name is henry clinton 1313 south 33rd street philadelphia pa 19146 clinton is c-l-i-n-t-o-n
do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do springer street sir yes mr chairman number eight number nine right 223 and 225
We understand that there's still some neighbors who are not happy, and we'd like the opportunity to meet with them again and ask for continuance.
Yes, sir. Granted.
Thank you.
MI 2021-004-012-225-E Springer Street, and MI 2021-004-011-223-E Springer Street.
Both cases are continued.
Can I be the moving party on that, Mr. Chairman?
You can.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate your patience.
Any other cases?
I might see no further
answer, Mr. Chair. I have a withdrawal.
Number three,
MI 2021
002 165
North 49th Street.
That case is withdrew.
Any other withdrawals?
I see nothing else,
sir. Okay.
Number one on the list.
MI 2022 001917 1018 Wood Street. This is a reconsideration hearing for MI 2021 003824.
Jen Zing is the attorney. Mr. Jin has been promoted to panelist, sir.
good afternoon sir could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
yes uh good afternoon zen jen z-h-e-n j-i-n 1617 john f kennedy boulevard suite 1838
philadelphia pa 19103 here on behalf of the applicant do you swear or firm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I do. My understanding, we are going to incorporate
testimony and exhibits from the original case. Yes. My understanding of this case will be
concentrating on the PCDC change. That is correct. If I may, yes. Go ahead, proceed.
If I may, I will share the additional information with the board and go over the additional questions.
I want Mr. Holloman to ask a few questions.
Absolutely.
Hi, Chair, this is Tanya.
Because it's a reconsideration, he's already submitted the required documents.
so so tanya there's the only thing i'm looking at we we did not receive a letter yet from pcbc
this is this is hillary um so um mr jim submitted a supplemental packet which was a number of the
same documents that had been originally submitted but um what was included that was not included
previously was a community benefits agreement between the applicant and pcdc and pcdc had
previously indicated that they would be upon execution of a cba they would change their
position from opposition to support in this matter i did not receive confirmation from them that they
now support the matter but i don't know if somebody is here to testify from pcdc to testify
So what I will do is share with the Board the additional information that we have submitted
to the Board in anticipation of this particular hearing.
The support language is actually built into the CBA, so I'm going to go ahead and move
right to that document for the Board's review.
In that sense, we have worked out with PCDC that a number of low-income housing units will be
incorporated into this particular application. As the board may recall, this is an application
for residential use in what is essentially an IRMX district. What we are
in what is essentially an IRMX district, what PCDC asked for was designated units that they can verify and check on
that will have essentially a low-income housing component that we agree to based on the income ratio of the applicants.
PCDC will work with us closely on making sure that the community benefits agreement is followed closely
and the affordable housing will be enforced with their assistance.
My client negotiated and worked this out with them.
Again, to recap the board, part of PCDC's concern with building these residential-only units
is that it would displace some of the Chinatown possible tenants that otherwise may not be able to afford these units.
By incorporating these low-income units, we alleviate some of that concern,
And therefore, PCDC would support. So PCDC will support zoning appeal for the purpose of rehearing by providing a letter of support to CBA. However, I understand that letter never did arrive, but they had made it clear within the signed CBA that is one of the conditions that when we entered into the agreement with them, they would be in support of the changes we're asking before the board.
So they are now or should be in support of this application.
Kellogg Hill Neighbors, the other RCO in charge of the area, was in support of the original application.
At this point, all the affected community organizations are in support.
And also, we had at the time submitted a petition of the neighbors as well to the board who were in support.
Even though there are some industrial uses still left on that block, there's one that I know of, majority of the block has been changing to residential, and there are no real objection to residential use of this particular lot.
In addition, we do have a parking agreement as well that was sent with this package that is to help alleviate any parking issues.
So with that, unless the board wants additional testimony or need to see other exhibits, I will end my presentation at this point and leave questioning to the board.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
questions or comments from the virtual audience
no hands Mr. Chair
Planning Commission
good afternoon this is Greg Waldman with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission
Greg could you spell your name for the court reporter
Sure. Gregory, G-R-E-G-O-R-Y, last name Waldman, that's W-A-L-D-M-A-N.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, sir.
In 2015, the zoning map was amended in this area to reflect changes proposed in a community plan.
The community plan was accepted by the City Planning Commission.
The intent of the ICMX zoning of this block, which does not permit residential uses, is to ensure an adequate supply of land for the existing restaurant support industry that has clustered here.
While we recognize that this may not be the long-term use of the block, given recent non-conforming buildings, we believe the only hardship has been an economic one.
We also note for the Board's consideration that the affordable dwelling units contained in the benefit agreement are not enforceable by the city pursuant to a deed restriction and affordability agreement, and their actual value as community benefits should be discounted accordingly.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny these variances.
Mr. Chairman, just to address the Planning Commission's comments quickly.
PCDC is extremely active in enforcing these CBAs.
They're an active community group within the Chinatown area, and I'm sure this will be an enforced matter.
Also, my client, by agreeing to this, will be putting in these affordable housing units.
We're not here to make a representation before the CBA just to renege on what is a written agreement, which we're contractually obligated to move forward with.
In addition, while I understand the Planning Commission's position with regarding to the remapping, I do want to point out my client, Sidewalk Tofu Inc., was one of these restaurant support business operators, and they have since moved on.
While we understand that the goal is to keep land available for these type of businesses.
The goal is to keep land available for these type of businesses.
This block is basically 80% residential at this point.
There are basically no other businesses looking to come in at this point that we're aware of.
So we would ask the board's consideration of that situation and vote in support of this application.
Thank you.
Thank you.
MI-2022-001917, 1018 Wood Street, which is the reconsideration for MI-2021-003824.
I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.