the history of the property if researched on the atlas shows clearly that since the 70s it's been
used as kind of a mixed commercial on the first floor residential on the second floor my clients
actually acquired this property some time ago and recently had to do repairs on the property as part
of a city violation for the condition of the exterior during that and before that at some
point they converted the first floor used to a residential use since they couldn't get commercial
use at the at the first floor and that led to a request from lni that they need to legalize whatever
is there and this is essentially a legalization request of that property as a duplex there were
actually a on the first floor i'm gonna go to the photos first it's easier to see how the property
is so as you can see this is a corner property uh with the traditional semi-commercial style
first floor the basement is actually completely separate from the first floor so that is only
accessible by the owner and will not be part of any residential use he intends to just keep that
separate because it's only accessed through belco doors not from the interior so only be the first
floor as one unit you can see the kitchen there and second floor is one unit the community only
sent an email letter essentially saying they oppose any triplex but a duplex would be
acceptable to them that is because at one point there was the last room at the end was used
That is because at one point, the last room at the end was used as an efficiency, and my client has since removed that, pursuant to his discussion with the community, and will be moving forward with the duplex only.
Unfortunately, I do not see that any specific interior plans were provided, but everything is existing.
there's no plan to make any additional changes other than making sure there's only one kitchen
and bathroom on the first floor for that unit so with that the community did support my client's
request and given the prior use history of the property and its unique physical conditions
we would ask for the board's favorable review of this variance request could you bring your client
Yes, I'm going to ask Mr. Macarello to raise his hand virtually.
I know he's on the phone and he may have some technical difficulties.
We discussed that this morning.
So hopefully he can get on here.
John, can you raise your hand virtually?
Chair, counsel, I do not see any hands raised at this time.
Okay. You're an officer of the court. We will accept your testimony. Questions for our attorney.
So, I guess I'm without any
plan. It's a little hard to, so
So how is this first floor going to be configured as your client envisions it for now?
So the first floor right now, you enter through the door that was shown on the corner.
And that essentially leads to the first room that would be the living room.
The kitchen is actually in the back, towards the back of this property.
At the very end, there's an additional room that was an efficiency.
Is that where that door is on the outside?
On the outside.
So now what's going to happen is everything will be connected interior from the inside, one hallway, with that room still having its own unique exit that will probably be used as a bedroom, but it will be allowed to have its own direct exit from the bedroom.
So just how do you, yeah, and then how do you get to the second floor?
The second floor has a, I'm sorry, let me go back to the.
You know, the issue is too, we got to hold this because of taxes.
what we can also hold it for is better plans of what you have inside and I think we could close
we could close everything and then just view the plan I think that would be better yes yes okay
other questions oh good I just where is it how do you go into the second unit you're about to show
us that you'll be through the same door that's actually a staircase that so it's in and over in
and up so that side door is just going to be closed off totally the side door will be still
part of the first because that's behind the stairway that's way back so it actually wouldn't
interfere with the stairs going up right so that'll have that'll be part of the first floor as
a secondary exit okay secondary okay gotcha and what's the uh plan for trash for the units um the
trash it it's always been kind of the same way with the trash they they have the belco access to
the uh to the basement for the when it was a commercial and they used to have their trash
down and bring out upper floor unfortunately would have to bring their trash out and i'm not
sure how that's managed at the at the moment but we can show that on the plans when it's the mission
where it would be stored yeah okay questions or comments from our attorney
um i just want to note um mr jinn we did not receive any of the interior photos that you
showed today so if you could yeah those could be uploaded to the tool that would be great thank you
so much I'll make sure they are thank you all right questions or comments from the virtual audience
once again chair I do not see any hands raised for the matter planning are you comfortable
making a position today we certainly are all right thank you all right thank you chairman
and board members David Fecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 residential single family zoning at this
location the city rezoned this neighborhood in 1996 and a council supported map change this
property appears to have a use history as two dwelling units the city planning commission
recommends the board grant the proposed use variants for two dwelling units so we're going
to close the record right you will submit obviously the the taxes and then also submit better plans
are inside your plans and then if we have any question we'll bring you back now hillary we
don't give this a date do we um not because we don't know when the tax right so just whenever
Um, not because we don't know when the tax compliance.
So just whenever you get to that, but just, you know, better plans.
you get to that.
And I think from the questions, you know, exactly what to do.
I know what to do.
I know you do.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
All right.
Have a good one.
Let's see here.
Number one.
Number one.
MI 2024-002-310-7346
West Pass, Shunk Avenue, Vern Anastasia
was the attorney.
No RCO letter or summary,
but notice was sent.
We do have a letter now.
Am I right, Hillary?
We got a letter, I think.
Yes, Mr. Chair,
we did receive a letter of opposition
from the RCO on the 40th Ward, Republican.
Thank you.
Daryl Ray panelists, Mr. Chair.
Right.
Good morning again, Mr. Chair.
Council, just for the record, state your name.
Byrne Anastasio on behalf of Harry Bento.
okay our um as you know we do you have a copy of that letter of the rco letter uh
it came in this morning it did yeah okay all right questions from our vice chair
good morning have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
yes and do you waive the veto the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do all right thank you share your screen and proceed with your case please thank you
I represent the owner, Harry Beto, of 7346 West Pass Shunk.
This is his home, and it's zoned RM1, but it is a single-family home.
He lives on the first and second floors, and this bottom level is a separate unit.
He believed he could have, by right, put an office in for himself, and that's what he did.
Turns out that he needed the zoning relief. And so we're here. The application is for administrative offices on the first floor.
As you can see, it's for auto tag and auto insurance.
And he it's his office. He would be the only one there and basically live above his store is what he's trying to do.
he for a very long time had an office uh on the commercial corridor but due to the economy he was
unable to keep that store so he uh he put the office in in his own building
and he is now requesting relief in order to do that here's the interior layout of the office itself
as you can see it's it's Robert's small space this is where the general public
would come in that's his office and then their storage in a records room this
really isn't a high-volume sort of office most of the work that is done
is done either via the internet or online you know online emails very few
people actually come into the office but he does have the office space let me
show you some photos that's the interior space that and that's the office space
and then behind this office is the storage room and here's the rear there's
proof of posting this is the letter that went out to all individuals households we did have an rco
meeting there was concern 127 households were mailed there was a concern you know mr bento
is known to the community but if the property were to be sold and by the way this is overwhelming
support of the immediate neighbors as you can see here there were a couple
immediate neighbor and all of those signatures by the way are on the
impacted list given to us by the Planning Commission it's also a letter
of support from Christine Bryant. She lives at
She lives at 7344, so one of the adjacent neighbors right next door is in support.
7344, so one of the adjacent neighbors.
Here's another one on the other side, 7348.
So both adjacent neighbors on either side of this home are in support of this as well,
in addition to the dozens of signatures that we've already secured.
But at the community meeting, there was concern that if Mr. Beto sold that this use would run with the land, our solution to that was a temporary variance, which I believe would satisfy their concern and also make sure that only Mr. Bento would be able to have that that particular use.
while he owned it. So we are certainly amenable to that
restriction. With that, I'd like to
have my client, Harry Bento, please raise his virtual hand
to be recognized.
We also understand, my client understands now that that sign
is not part of the application and the sign will be removed.
and it's b-a-n-t-o
mr bento thank you counsel
please accept the invitation to become panelists
they'll be coming back in shortly thank you
Mr. Panto
do we see him come again i'm not sure he's a panelist he's in sure sure thank you chase
are you there mr banto
um harry bantle are you there
he may be having some difficulty logging you're an officer of the court uh
yeah we will take your testimony i appreciate that question sorry about that questions from
the board okay so you already said that you're going to get rid of that sign which absolutely
yeah yeah yeah not something we are uh able to have here and i guess i i guess i'm trying to
get an idea of i mean you mentioned um the that this wouldn't be an intense use no um but i i
I guess I'm still concerned that in what is essentially a single family neighborhood, you're talking about adding a commercial use, which even if it's not that intense a use, it's still maybe not appropriate for the area.
Well, it's a multifamily neighborhood.
It's not a single family neighborhood.
I didn't say single family, single, it's still residential.
It's still, most certainly.
i just just wanted to be clear that it is multi-family i didn't i didn't say anything about
the number of residential i said residential as opposed to um adding a commercial use
um and both both adjacent neighbors do support it though that's that's fine but that doesn't mean
that it's an appropriate use for the area and I guess my other question is are we going to have
what are we talking about in terms of foot traffic here and where do people come I mean you're
talking about auto tags and insurance which generally means someone has to come there and
get the tags and there's insurance issuances and what have you. So again, what are we talking about
in terms of foot traffic? Where are these people going to park? Good question. And luckily,
where are these people going to park? Good question. And luckily, I guess luckily,
he's been operating for quite some time. So we have the answers to that. Typically, there's about
maybe two, three people daily. That's about it. That would come in. And that's maximum
two or three people on an eight hour day. And there is parking at the end of the block that
folks utilize and some of these uh auto tech places also rent like u-haul trucks and have
them available and that kind of thing is he doing anything like no there's no personal vehicle uh
rentals at all or anything like that that would that would have to be on the application
all right other questions thank you questions from our attorney
not at this time mr. chair questions your comments from the virtual audience
I must have a hand up from Harry Bento I'll go ahead and allow him to speak
this time mr. chair okay I'm mr. Bento
yeah okay
mr banto
all right i'm sorry you may still be having that technical difficulties is there anyone else with
hand up yes craig maledocin i'll promote them all right craig i'll be in shortly sure
good morning good morning greg could you please state your name it's spelled for the stenographer
craig c-r-a-i-g last name melidosian m-e-l-i-d-o-s-i-a-n all right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do chair bergman please proceed
okay i wanted to point out first that the uh letter of opposition was from the southwest
Philadelphia Consortium of RCOs, not just from Ward 40. While I personally have some sympathy
for Mr. Banto and the position that he's in, this started over two years ago. And when we
originally spoke to him, I said, suggested we could find him some relief while he tried to
locate another commercial location in particular Southwest Philadelphia has a
significant problem in the automotive related businesses in the issuance of
tags and the issuance of salvage titles etc and it had is associated with some
hostility we have a property coming up on the calendar later this month 62 47
through 49 Dix Avenue. That was an automotive tags
facility. The owner of that facility was
robbed, stabbed, and left for dead, and only survived
because another customer came in to find him.
My opinion, and Vern can question me on it, I do have a significant
industrial security background, which I could go
over later if you'd like. Taking a look at this facility
is not considering the nature of the business. It is not a secure facility. It brings people