on the other half all of these dwelling units are built sort of in the form of single family
homes with their own front doors that are contextually and massing wise in line with the
other attached single family row homes that are in close proximity here um the refusals that you
see on your screen i'd actually object to the first one which says that we're proposing uh
four dwelling units there's there's five dwelling units that are proposed as a part of this
application um four of them face york street and one of them faces 32nd street perpendicular and
you'll see because this is a corner property there's a second refusal for multiple principal
buildings because those four that face york street are all attached and the one that faces 32nd street
is standalone separate building we're receiving a refusal for rear yard depth the code is determining
or rather the lni examiner is determining that we have no rear yard depth you'll see on the plans
you know i think that's a technicality of how the the architecture was drawn up we are proposing
only 58 percent occupied area obviously the remaining 42 percent is open space it's a little
bit funky shape back there you basically have between four and a half feet at the minimum
and about 21 feet at the maximum of rear yard depth the side yard width you'll see again you
know i would object to that refusal um we're preserving or rather extending an alley that
did not exist when this was one large parcel now you could put this start putting some things up
sure yes i apologize no no no we have the letters of support um i see all the letters of support we
have every the petitions will go forward we have posting photos as well um there are three
frontages here so there are uh you know three postings two on the corner here and one by the
playground. Oh, I'm sorry. Posting photos to there and one there. Here are the architectural plans
and drawings. And I have Vera Kisilev from WRT, the architect's representative in the virtual
audience if there are any questions for her okay so what you see on the top of the screen
is the existing conditions of the site there's a playground there and what you see down here
and i'll zoom in so it's a little bit easier to see is the proposed residential development on
the site there's a three foot eight inch alley or rather three foot seven inch alley that we
are extending which exists currently further up the block on 32nd street uh you know obviously
for egress purposes but also creates a buffer between the playground and the the home that's
proposed to go there there are four single family homes that are notated as multi-family because
this is one parcel that face york street they're between 15.6 and 16.2 feet wide and then there's
They're between 15.6 and 16.2 feet wide.
And then there's another single-family home, again, part of this quote-unquote five-unit
development facing 32nd Street, which is 16 feet wide.
You can see there's a large amount of open space here in the rear.
We would agree to a proviso for trash stored in the rear.
There are two means of egress through the backs of these properties.
Obviously, this three-foot, seven-inch alley.
there's also a four foot five inch sort of opening that that goes directly out onto 32nd street
the next slide here is again just sort of an illustrative site plan you can see
kind of how that playground sits on the existing site
these are two-bedroom townhomes similar what you've seen in our previous presentations this
is our our sort of form two-bedroom townhome you walk in on the first floor which is on the left
side of the screen zooming in a little bit for you there's an open concept kitchen living and
dining area with a half bathroom and then upstairs you have two bedrooms a bathroom and laundry
facilities here is that lot line relocation plan where you can see that the existing condition is
one large parcel and the proposed condition is is two parcels parcel a and parcel b
and then the remaining documents are application for appeal and then
i'll just show you the certificate of tax clearance at the conclusion of the presentation
um with that i'd like to call my client lindsay samsi to adopt my testimony
i could you please state your name is spelled for the court stenographer yes thank you chairman
lindsey samsey l-i-n-d-s-e-y samsey s-a-m-s-i right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do and mr goldberg as as she testifies i'd appreciate if she
handle all three and that way i won't have to keep calling her back sure okay lindsey did you
hear my testimony today and was it true and correct yes and you adopted as your own yeah
and not specifically relating to this presentation the board will see
a zoning application that includes essentially the combination of two lots into one lot
for the construction of a two-family dwelling when otherwise two single-family homes could
have been built on that parcel. I know that's similar to something that the board saw in the
previous presentations. We're getting ahead of ourselves here, but can you explain for the board
again your reasoning for doing that? I'm going to object because we have specific questions about
the dimensions and the configurations of all of them that are separate parcels.
Well, I'm going to let her continue, and then you're going to have a chance to answer questions.
But I can't ask her questions about things that haven't been presented yet.
Well, Steve, we're trying to save time.
Yeah, I understand.
But I'm going to do this, and then you could do it.
I'm going to ask her to come back then for the other ones.
Please proceed.
Yeah, so similar to the other applications and the cases that you've seen, all of the buildings intentionally are designed to read as single-family townhomes due to constructability and cost issues.
They are technically considered multifamily buildings, however, they all have their own entrances and street frontages to align with the context of the neighborhood.
and specifically and that was regarding 2338-40 north 31st street which you'll see coming up
specifically relating to the other one that the board has not seen yet which is 2500 north 31st
street can you explain to the board in terms of and maybe this is a better question for vera and
you can say that regarding your need for accessibility requirements and having ground
floor, ground floor apartments, and sort of how that ties into sort of the overall project goals
and requirements. Right, thank you. So, so Penrose has a desire to provide as many accessible units
as possible, as well as our funding sources. So this project has 10% accessible units across all
of the units. And in order to achieve that, we do need flats that are accessible on the first floor,
which allows us to put a townhome on the top of it again all separate entrances and all read as
single-family townhomes thank you is that your case yes do you have any questions mr um i do
ministers sure i'm sorry i don't remember your last name
Sure. I'm sorry I don't remember your last name. Sam C. Sam C. Okay, Sam C. You work for Penrose,
is that correct? Yes. Are you aware that the project that we're talking about today has
federal money that is part of the funding? Yes. Okay. Did you participate or did anyone else
at Penrose participate in the decisions of where to site this project, whether to site it in
Strawberry Mansion or in some other neighborhoods? Penrose responded to an RFP that was released by
the Philadelphia Housing Authority through a competitive bid process. So is it fair to say
that the Philadelphia Housing Authority made the siting plan before they did the RFP for you?
I can't answer for the Housing Authority. We just responded to the RFP.
Well, did the RFP have the site that was identified already?
It had sites listed in the RFP, yes.
And all those sites are in Strawberry Mansion?
So someone before you got onto the team decided that it was going to be cited in Strawberry
Mansion.
That's your testimony?
Someone not at Penrose as we responded to an RFP.
so you don't have any information or knowledge as to why they chose to cite this project and
it's armory mansion is that is that correct correct and um as part of your winning the the um
the rfp for this were there conversations um or requirements that were that were given to penrose
from pha dealing with their affirmative obligations to to um eliminate racial discrimination and to
promote racial integration I'm not sure what the question is did anyone talk to
you about your the need to eliminate racial discrimination in this project
and to promote racial integration object to that she if she knows how to answer
if she did if she knows how to answer it I mean in order to respond to an RFP
that is given by the Philadelphia Housing Authority the respondent is
required to comply with all HUD regulations
That wasn't my question. My question isn't whether Penrose discriminates against people. I hope that you don't. My question is, was at any time Penrose given instructions or directed to ensure that this project, when it was built, would not contribute to racial discrimination and would in fact contribute to racial integration?
Penrose follows all fair housing laws.
Did anyone tell you anything about racial integration and racial and racial discrimination?
I'm not sure. Did anyone? Did anyone from from HUD or from PHA or anyone else that's outside of Penrose that's connected to this project instruct you that there was supposed to be standards met for racial integration and racial segregation?
Of course, that falls under the fair housing laws.
So what were you instructed to do under her house?
Steve, listen, you've asked that question three times.
She's answered it the way she thinks is the appropriate answer.
You don't agree, we're going to move on to the next question.
Okay. Can we go back to, Alex, can you bring up the drawings of the floor plans?
Because I'd like to understand the dimensions of the units.
I think it might be helpful, Steve and Mr. Chairman, if at this point I call Vera Kisilev to be sworn in because, you know, she's the architect.
Vera, are you out there?
She's got her hand raised.
Yes, good afternoon, Chair and Counsel.
This is Jason Hand.
I have the calls for the session.
They have been promoted to panelists.
They should be rejoining shortly.
Thank you very much.
Do you hear me?
I think she's on, Mr. Chairman.
Could you please state your name and spell for the sonographer?
My name is Vera Kisilev.
You're going to have to get closer to wherever your mic is because we're having a hard time hearing you.
My name is Vera Kisilev, V-E-R-A-K-I-S-E-L-E-V.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, sir.
Sure. Are you able to see the drawings that we're looking at on the screen for these units?
Yeah, I can see the drawings, and I also can see drawings on my computer with the precise dimensions.
Yeah, I can see the drawings and I also can see the drawings on my computer.
Okay. Can you tell me what the dimensions of each of the units are?
So each unit's gross area is between 900 and 1,000 square feet, between two stories. It's gross area.
And can you tell me the dimensions of the bedrooms?
each bedroom uh located on the second floor and hold on let me open the second floor plan
do you have a copy of this okay so it's listed on there oh it is all the dimensions right
yeah i can tell you so there are two bedrooms on the second floor each bedroom uh has uh
So the larger bedroom is, hold on, as it says here, it's almost 12 feet, 11 foot 9 by almost 15 feet, 14 foot 9.
There is also six feet, the closet, and the smaller bedroom is, actually, it's larger than it's shown.
It's nine foot four by, again, 14 foot nine, and it has a five foot closet.
so the sizes of the bedroom are actually much larger than would be allowed in the market rate
apartment it's just my comment as an architect okay explain you said that these units are larger
than market rate unit apartments in the sizes of the bedrooms that provided to satisfy the
requirements of the Philadelphia Housing Financial Agency are in general larger than would have been
allowed by the Philadelphia Building Code. Okay. In your opinion as an architect, is there any
reason that these units could could um could these units have been built in another neighborhood or
another suburb outside of philadelphia i'm going to object to that she's the architect i think she
was directed by someone to to design the properties for her right right but the question is in in
terms of the argument we're making on the fair housing and the yeah i understand that but what
i'm saying they asked the architect about well could she do it somewhere else i mean she was
working for someone right but is it possible is there something unique about this property in
this neighborhood to to require that these units have been built just there and no other place
that's my question i don't i don't really understand the question so i'd appreciate
if you can move on i really don't i'm serious i well the what at issue here is the siting of
this project in strawberry mansion if strawberry mansion was the only place that we could cite
affordable housing project, that would be one thing to know. But if it was possible for PHA
to cite this project in other communities, then that... But I mean, I think we're going to move
on simply because she is only working at the direction of the client. Okay. Excuse me, Mr.
Chair, this is Hillary. I just wanted to be clear here that I understand what Mr. Masters is saying
about the siting of the project, but the zoning board is not responsible for the siting of the
project. The siting of the project was determined by other parties, and if Mr. Masters wishes to
challenge the siting of the project by those other parties, that needs to be in a different forum,
not before the zoning board of adjustment. Okay, what is your next question, please?
Steve. The next question is, can we have someone from PHA testify? Because I have questions for
them. Well, I mean, if you had questions for that, why didn't you subpoena them?
You had a chance beforehand to subpoena the PHA. They were here last time, so I assumed that
they were going to be here again. I'm not planning to call them to testify. We're moving forward
today steve so i'm going to ask you then to to allow me to call um the the witness from pha
because that's that is um they they have an affirmative duty to describe while how they're
in compliance with the fair housing act no we're going to move on all right then i'm
All right, then I'm just I'm going to have an objection to that.
just i'm going to have an objection to that what army i have an objection
What do you mean?
I have an objection.
I understand.
Do you have any other more questions for?
No, we just have our own case to do.
Well, we're going to like there's more to this case, right?
Okay, sure.
So is there any questions from the board?
Any questions for our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Are there questions or comments from the virtual audience or from this audience here?
Come on up.
We have.
You'll get a chance to put your story.
I'll make sure we do that for you.
I promise you.