effect great okay okay yeah i'm surprised to hear that but okay i i thought he had just gotten it
okay um yeah no it was expired in january i see yes okay so you'll need you'll just you'll need
an updated agreement is all exactly okay yep yep otherwise you're good to go so there's no
non-agreement received from the 51st ward vote was to unanimously oppose the triplex 15 votes
included one near but the majority that were in favor of a revision of a duplex right um council
member got the a is in agreement with the rco is in favor okay our vice chair has a few questions
sure good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance
of this hearing yes and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
yes and you can share your screen and proceed with your case thank you yeah agreed on the
reading of the um let me get to that uh rco letter so by the way this is the settlement agreement
with the city. We'll get that updated for you. So we spoke with the RCO. We had two meetings.
We spoke with the RCO about they had suggested they did not want three units, but they would
agree to two. So we were just waiting on getting some drawings to them. They came in a little late.
They came in yesterday, but we sent them right over. I did get an email. I had an email conversation
with Dr. Christina Williams from the RCO, and we are absolutely committed to we're not pursuing
the three, and we are going with the two per their recommendation. We were able to come up
with plans, which you should see on your screen. Both units will have dedicated entrances to the
rear yard. I'll show you on this. This is the first floor plan. You can see there is a rear yard,
And there's two doorways and two stairs leading to each unit.
So the basement unit has a dedicated entrance to the rear.
So there's the two dedicated exits, two at the front and two at the rear for each unit.
And trash will be stored in the rear yard out of view from the community.
I'll just say this, Mr. Chairman.
the um the property is in an extremely poor condition it's been in a blighted state my
client acquired it in a blighted and dilapidated state it's boarded up he's had to sink some money
into it um leading up to today there was a fire at the property um let me show you some rear photos
it's not in good shape the block is very challenging this is the rear he had to comply
some violations um and did so i believe but it's it's obviously in a distressed condition so we
we obviously would assert to the board that there is a hardship caused by long-term vacancy at the
property some of it is my client's ownership but it was probably my client acquired it in that
state so he has struggled to get it developed and uh once to to he's from the neighborhood he
He grew up in West Philly and is dedicated to cleaning it up, getting it into a situation where he can develop it.
There are very challenging and blighted properties on the block.
I did give you some contextual photos of other blighted properties on this specific block.
It's not in good condition.
One other note, he did circulate the petition.
One other note, he did circulate the petition.
He's well known in that neighborhood.
He did circulate the petition.
He did get signatures.
But regardless of that, we worked with, by the way, here's the postings.
We did work with the RCO to work out a deal here.
And everybody, in my understanding, everybody's on board for the two units.
In anticipation of getting the plans, when I submitted the exhibits on Friday, I did submit a revised proviso form showing that we were revising the plans for two units instead of three.
My understanding is the footprint is identical to the initial submission, all right?
So I believe this can be handled through proviso, and in all caution, I'll defer to Hillary, obviously.
You're going to hold it anyway, but we do have three.
Let me go back to the drawings.
We do have three pages, and the footprint's going to be identical to the original submission, and we agreed to a proviso for no more than two units at the property.
I would like to try to get Hugh on.
He's been waiting patiently, so maybe he's still with us.
So, Hugh, if you could raise your hand to accept my testimony as accurate.
And could you show us the basement, too?
Yes, sure.
What's going to be in the basement now?
Oh, it's my computer's.
They're being promoted to panelists.
Acting up here.
Yeah, here it is, Mr. Chairman.
Let me try to zoom in.
So you see, the basement's not, it's half grade, if you know what I mean by that.
It's a raised first story.
So the basement's actually not fully underground.
So it was easy to have this, you know, slight excavated entranceway.
So there is direct rear yard access.
Why don't we do this?
Bring him on.
We'll adopt your testimony.
Then we'll open it up to the board.
But I would leave the basement open for you.
You believe what?
I would leave that open, if you would, the basement.
Will do.
All right.
What's your client's name?
It's Hugh Davis.
They're our panelists.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Could you please state your name as Bellford's sonographer?
It does take a little while to get promoted.
Hugh, are you with us?
I really did want you to hear from him, but it's been a while.
Okay, all right.
So they have to unmute themselves.
You make sure you unmute.
All right, so if he doesn't come on, I'll ask you to.
Charles, we'll take your questions from the board.
Okay, thank you.
Questions or comments from our attorney?
Just to verify, because I know this was mainly change of use, but there was a little bit of
like an addition taken down and then put back up.
Oh, Hillary, there's Hugh.
Can I just grab him real quick?
That's fine.
Thank you.
Appreciate it.
Sorry, Rob.
I'm Mr. Davis.
Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Hugh, H-U-G-H, Davis, D-A-V-I-S.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please turn in your video if you can.
I'm not good at this.
Okay, all right.
I've been watching y'all the whole time and now it's not giving me.
No, Mr. DeMarco, please proceed.
Mr. Davis, that's okay.
Did you hear my presentation to the board and is it true and accurate to the best of your knowledge as the owner?
Yes, it is.
Okay, and can you accept my presentation and the testimony as your testimony in this case?
Okay, thank you, Hugh.
That should be good.
All right, questions from our attorney.
Hillary. Yeah. Yeah. No, I just wanted to clarify because I know there was there is an addition that was taking down and then an addition being put back up. Is there any change to that addition being made as a result of going from three units to two units?
So I believe in Hugh, you could correct me if I'm wrong. I believe it's the exact same footprint that is shown on the revised drawings.
i believe so also okay all right so then we don't need to do um revised plans in that case we can
add the adjustment and units can be made via proviso if the board grants um without revised
plans okay so yeah we agree to that provides though for questions or comments from the virtual
audience thank you no hands at this time chair planning commission thank you chairman and good
thank you chairman and good afternoon david fecto with the city planning commission
afternoon david effecto with the city planning commission chairman and board
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 2019
in accord with recommendations in the comprehensive plan there is no unique physical condition or
circumstance of this property that would prevent it from being used in strict conformity with the
zoning code this is a primarily single-family block face the city planning commission recommends
the board denied the proposed use variance for two dwelling units um so hillary uh mr demarco
can we have this uh taxi thing straight by next uh wednesday i'm gonna tell you hugh do you
understand that here's the thing when they sent me that right i i got it in the mail and i couldn't
find it so the other day i called the guy and he just sent it back to me the same thing so and i
i just signed it and gave it to you but it is um current i know but make sure that the make sure
you get that done with revenue so the board understands that it's it's current well i can
call the guy you know take care of that so hillary hillary what here's what we'll do is we'll we'll
we'll see if we can get this done by next wednesday if we do we'll vote next wednesday
morning at 9 30 a.m okay we'll hustle we'll hustle all right thank you very much thank you
all right we have one more case am i correct um yes although we may have a standing issue with
that matter that was just brought to my attention um we need the attorney to come on what what's that
what one time um so so that is gall street mr chair number nine yes on both lists
it oh okay yep yep um that's uh mr toppen sir yeah all right so
hello in my 2025 003-864-3317-41 gall street chairman toppen is the attorney
good afternoon members of the board council could you please state your name is spelled
for the sonographer yes my name is sherman toppen last name spelled t-o-p-p-i-n all right do you
swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do i do all right do
we have an issue with the case yes so so mr toppen it was just brought to my attention you're
representing the tenant uh and not the owner um and the lease that we have on file um expired in
in December. Do you have current a current lease for the tenant?
The tenants lease is the owner is has rolled over.
But I don't believe I have in my packet an addendum showing that so it's continuing as a rolled over lease.
but we can get that addendum if if the board was inclined to allow us to do so between now and
and a future date yeah that's yeah we we just we need to see that um and just and to clarify what
part of the property is being leased because it looked like there was a couple of buildings that
were connected and one of them has two stories yes the my client is a tenant of the the actual
garage space I can it might be visually easier for me to show the picture but it's at the very
cover of our presentation package he he has that that first floor level as it goes back
into the other but the so there's actually like you as you said two sides of this his space covers
the actual automotive garage space and the space immediately behind that where our paint booth is
like is likely to be is proposed to be okay um so yeah unfortunately we we need we need like an
addendum um to proceed um we can we could give this the july date but um you can contact the
office yeah why don't you want to see if we can get us get you back in sooner because it's just
here's something for july bringing something up here uh hold on one second
june 17th at 2 p.m
and if you want it quicker you should call the office okay certainly we'll we'll do that we
understand that the issue with the the lease okay all right thank you we're sorry that happened oh
no that's fine thank you members is there anyone in the audience whose case has not been called
no hands at this time chair all right thanks everyone see everyone at two o'clock
All right. Thanks, everyone. See everyone at 2 o'clock.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this meeting
of the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustments. With me is our Board Vice Chair, Tanetta Graham.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Our board secretary, Cheryl L. Gaston.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Michael Johns.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Board member, Taya Winsch.
She should be here any minute.
And our board member, Ryan McAdams.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Also here is our board attorney, Hillary Emerson,
our executive director of the zoning board, Ian Haggerty,
and our board administrator, Lakeisha Dandy.
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