If I may, may I ask a question to Ms. Wu?
you can. Thank you. Ms. Wu, isn't it the practice of PCDC to request a restriction on the deed for
these affordable housing units you had mentioned? So we normally write this
affordable housing units request in the proviso and the ZBA will take that.
request in the proviso, and the ZBA will take that into their approval, zoning variance approval.
I don't believe necessarily that's an enforceable proviso. We had agreed in the sense that
as far as affordable nature of the housing, the smaller units would be definitely marking
towards affordability. That was discussed at the community meeting. However, I believe PCDC is
looking for not only an agreement to specifically have a certain level of affordable housing, but
also in the past, I've seen that a deed restriction is commonly requested. And those are things that
my client are not comfortable with. That is the main reason we did not do a, quote, affordable
housing project agreement with PCDC at this time. So I just wanted to make that clear for the record.
i agree thanks thank you very much for for calling in and testimony any other people in the virtual
audience
no other hand at this time sir planning commission
good morning chair bergman ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission
that's spelled h-e-g-a-r-t-y i'm sorry do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth yes sir i do proceed thank you uh good morning members of the board
uh in 2015 the zoning map was amended in this area and that was done to reflect changes that
were proposed in the community plan uh referenced by the representative of philadelphia chinatown
Development Corporation. This community plan was accepted by the City Planning Commission,
and just for the board's reference, the intent of the ICMX zoning on this block was at the time to
ensure an adequate supply of land for the existing restaurant support industry that is sort of
clustered here. We recognize that that may not be the long-term land use in this location, given the
adjacent non-conformities that have cropped up over the last few years. However, given that this
was an accepted plan by the City Planning Commission and there's no other hardship other
than the economic hardship that's been presented here, the City Planning Commission has to
recommend that the board deny these variances. But Mr. Haggerty, the Planning Commission does
acknowledge that there has been plenty of changes in that block towards residential use.
Yes, we do, and we also acknowledge that that's not grounds for a hardship.
Understood. Thank you.
MI 2021 003824, 1018 Wood Street, I vote no.
James Snell, my vote is no.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is no.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is no.
Thank you, Mr. Chin.
Thank you.
MI 2021-003-793-1241-43 South 57th Street.
Michael Yanov is the attorney.
There is a letter of support from the RCO.
Okay, Mr. Chair, Mr. Yanoff, should we be joining as a pen?
I ask that everyone else put their hands down unless the chairman requests you to raise your hand for a reason.
Please put your hands down.
Thank you kindly.
Mr. Yanoff, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Yes, Michael Yanoff, that's M-I-C-H-A-E-L, Yanoff, Y-A-N-O-F-F.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Mr. Chairman.
I proceed, sir.
And Mr. Holloman has a few questions for you.
Counselor, do you agree to the reading of the refusal and stipulate to his accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Thank you.
According to our records, there's no RCO letter.
Can you address that issue?
There was a letter which we sent in last night, which we had just received yesterday, which
with a letter of support.
I sent that immediately to all the appropriate internet
addresses.
We have a copy of it now.
We have a copy.
Thank you, sir.
OK, please proceed.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board,
I represent the property owner, Francis Dubrow,
with respect to this application.
The existing property is a 13,890 square foot building
The existing property is a 13,890 square foot building,
which is currently vacant.
It had previously been established as a-
Mr. Yenoff, excuse me,
would you wanna share your screen for us?
Yes, can we have, can the administrator please allow
Michael Seabright to share his screen?
He has all the documents with him,
if that's possible, he is on.
Have him raise his hand, please.
Michael, will you raise your hand, please?
Mr. Seabright has also been promoted to panelists, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Seabright, could you state your name and spell it for the court stenographer, please?
You have to unmute yourself, Michael.
Michael, can you unmute yourself and state your name, please?
This is Michael Seabright, M-I-C-H-A-E-L-S-E-B-R-I-G-H-T.
All right, just in case you testified, you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Absolutely.
Okay, thank you. Proceed, Mr. Yanov.
Thank you. Mr. Seabright has shared his screen. And Michael, if you could just start scrolling down on this. As I indicated, the property is now vacant and had previously been established as a transitional house for homeless persons or recovering individuals.
The proposed project is a variance for 32 units of housing for single room residents to accommodate foster children aging out of foster care, but are still too young to be fully reliant upon themselves.
Housing is only part of the application. There are additional social services that would be provided for these young people with appropriate administration and guidance.
We are also requesting a parking variance. That's one of the two refusals. I should state that the refusals indicate that the use is not permitted in the RSA3 zoning district, and we don't provide parking.
Since the residents who would be living in here would not have vehicles, would not be parking, and therefore on-street parking would be more than sufficient, so we're asking for a variance with respect to that.
We have Michael Seabright is prepared to testify about the mechanics and the and the layout of the building.
But I also have here, and I think that they are here, Francis Dubrow, who's the property owner, who is involved in an organization known as Undivided Courage, portions of which are in the in the documents that we submitted.
And I also have Alexis Pugh, who is here to testify about the manner in which the program works.
and Mark Johnson, who is here to testify about the security that would be afforded to this
particular use because of the relatively unusual nature of the residents who will be living in
there, so that we want to make sure that the zoning board and the neighbors are sufficiently
comfortable with the level of security. Mr. Chairman, if we could have those individuals,
Mr. Seabright, Ms. Dubrow, Ms. Pugh, and Mr. Johnson sworn. They can then testify quickly
about what the program is all about. Sure. Thank you.
Ms. Alexis, Pugh has her hand raised. I will now speak at this time, sir.
Mr. Chairman, can she be sworn? Sure. Alexis, say your name and spell
for the court stenographer yes my name is alexis pew that's a-l-e-x-i-s-p-u-g-h
and my address oh i'm sorry what do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth yes i do how about the rest of the people mr johnson are you there
mr johnson has been allowed to speak sir
Mr. Johnson, state your name and spell for the court sonographer.
You have to unmute, Mr. Johnson.
Johnson, please unmute.
Can you hear me?
Yes, we can.
State your name and spell for the court sonographer.
My name is Mark Johnson, M-A-R-K-J-O-H-N-S-O-N.
all right do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes mr yanoff who else do you have francis dubrow
this is a bro please unmute yourself
this is a bro please unmute yourself
they haven't raised their hand have they
well while we're waiting for proceed thank you is she is francis on or should we start with
alexis she hasn't raised her hand okay well let's start with alexis go ahead alexis if you can
could you please state your name and address to the record unmute yourself alexis
my name is lexus pew my address is 1844 north 23rd street and i am the executive director for
programs for undivided courage can you tell the chair the chair and the board what undivided
courage is undivided courage is an organization designed a social service organization that aims
to provide support to runaways, homeless youth age 18 to 24. We address the social, psychological,
medical, and housing needs of young adults. And how is it that you do that in this program?
Our mission, it's to create supportive housing for aged out foster care youth.
And how long have you been involved in this business?
Oh, well, I have over 20 years experience working with the homeless population, some time spent at Project Home working to eradicate street homelessness.
In that experience, I was engaged with young people, which we identified as having a greater risk of homelessness.
That is how I became involved in Undivided Courage and meeting Mrs. Dubrow to help her through that mission.
Okay. And can you describe to the board what Undivided Courage intends to do with this property if the CBA would be so kind as to approve this?
We plan on having supportive housing, affordable supportive housing for 18 to 24-year-olds.
And I'm sure that everyone here is aware of what supportive housing is.
And supportive housing, it combines affordable housing with intensive coordinated services.
What are those coordinated services?
Coordinated services being medical attention, education, and also employment opportunities.
We are intent on building leaders that can be great civic-minded folks and living out their life opportunities.
Can you describe to the board what trained personnel there are to assist in this program?
Besides myself having many years of supportive services, we will also have on-site supportive services,
And that is 24 hours supportive services on site with residential service coordinators living inside the residence as well.
We also have coordinated efforts with our security team to manage any incidents that may happen on site.
Can you describe briefly to the board what the guidelines are for this particular program and whether there are written guidelines?
Yes. So we will use PHA's proven guideline for supportive housing measures, but then we will also internally have our own guidelines, which will require a intensive application process and drug screening.
We will partner with PHA to follow their guidelines, but also keeping in step with proven track records of Covenant House, Youth Valley House.
Those are our referral process to also filter out students that would be eligible and meet criterias.
How do you pick the 32 people out of the many potential participants in this program?
How is it that you select those who are going to be living in this particular house?
Oh, well, we actually will have them go through an application process, just like I said, with drug screenings attached to that.
They will need to also be employed at the time as well.
We will have guidelines that each applicant must be employed at least 20 hours a week or be enrolled in some sort of educational training program as well.
That will also let us know that these individuals are working towards a pathway of independence.
Okay, now we have Mark Johnson here this morning also discuss about the security. So we're going to ask security questions of Mr. Johnson. But for you, Alexis, is it safe to say that you have engaged in an extensive security analysis to make sure that the property and the residents and the neighbors feel safe and secure?
and and he'll he'll describe to that he'll describe that for us i have no further i
he'll describe that for us i have no further i have no further questions of this witness
have no further questions that this witness
mr chairman thank you like it would you like me to move on to my other witnesses i wish you please
thank you i then i asked mark johnson be sworn
he's already been sworn thank you thank you mr chairman mr johnson could you please state your
name and business address for us you have to unmute mark
thank you hear me yeah we can hear you now can you please state your name and business address
for us mark johnson 6405 over brook avenue philadelphia pa are you affiliated with a
security company sir i am but for this project i'm i'm helping her out as uh volunteering okay
can you tell us something about your experience in the area of security um i'm currently safety
Security Manager for U.S. Security Care. I also was Safety and Security Director at
Gerard College and Director of Campus Life at Gerard College, and I had retired from the FBI
after 27 years. Okay, and are you familiar with the program that is being offered at this location?
Yes, I am. And have you reviewed the program needs with the applicants? Yes, I have. And are you
familiar with the building itself? Yes, I am. And you're familiar with the neighborhood, I assume?
Yes, I am. Okay. Can you describe the security arrangements that are being made for this program?
Well, a lot of it's preliminary, but obviously we'll have the general physical security controls,
access control for the students. They'll have all key fobs to enter and access the building.
But I think the greater control, the greater issue, hold on, let me close this door.
The greater issue, since you will be having 30 plus individuals living in this home, is how do we manage and control them and make sure that they come in, they're not wandering around the neighborhood.
as alexis had probably mentioned we'll be following some of the standard best practices
other like facilities make sure that we have rules in place make sure we do proper screening
in the beginning including drug screening make sure we have clear concise rules and regulations
for the students and when when children or when some of our clients run afoul those rules we have
a fair and concise adjudication so that we can make sure that if we do have problems,
we can address them quickly. Would there ever be need to call in the Philadelphia police for this?
I mean, you never know, just like any other facility that's individual based. But just
like anything, we'll make sure that we have the proper relationship with the Philadelphia police
in the right district and in developing the emergency operation plan for the building,
we'll make sure that they are, Philadelphia Police is aware of everything that we do.
Well, are you comfortable that the arrangements that you're making are satisfactory for the
safety and security of residents, staff, and the neighborhood?
Yes, they will be.
All right.
That's all the questions I have of this particular witness, Mr.