Just one moment, Jerry.
Sure, take your time.
Yeah, I wasn't aware of that.
Harvey Smith is your client?
Sure, I'll be right with him.
He's been promoted.
yeah so missing a refusal for off street accessory parking um minimum of uh two spaces
and it's uh so yeah so it's i think it's uh i think we can go on i think we just got to put
it on the record sorry sorry so for uh off street accessory parking it's one per 20 sleeping units
plus a minimum of two spaces okay it's not it's not being provided and yeah the street itself i
mean as the mailing showed that there wasn't weren't many residential homes uh involved here
this is not a highly dense neighborhood so off street parking will suffice thank you all right
could you bring your client on yep mr schmidt should be on mr schmidt
hey i'm not sure if you can see me or not i can't sir yeah could you please state your
I can, sir. Yeah. Could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
name is bell for the stenographer sure my name is
Sure. My name is Harvey Schmidt. First name H-A-R-V-E-Y. Last name Schmidt, S-E-H-M-I-D-T.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Schmidt, did you hear my presentation to the board today?
I did.
True and accurate to the best of your knowledge?
Yes, yes. Very true.
and you adopt it as your own testimony correct i will say there also is two parking spots in the
back okay uh so that adds thank you nothing further thank you uh bernie how many people
are we talking about that can stay there well for this current uh tenant uh because their
requirements are one person per room right now we there's only 15 bedrooms uh but historically
speaking most of those rooms are double occupancies so and in the past the last use it was up to 37
folks I'm not saying we're ever going to get there but it is we we can you know it's an it's it's a
unique situation that there's only one person per bedroom because of this particular tenant
okay thank you questions from the board yeah how many how are you addressing accessibility a lot
veterans have mobility issues. How is accessibility being addressed? The first floor will have two
units and there will be a build out as part of the CO process to ensure that those are
at least adaptable, if not accessible. What about the ramps to the building?
If necessary, they're going to do whatever they need to do.
If I could add, there is a ramp already there. Can you go back to the plans just very quickly?
sure and i believe mr schmidt wants to add there's a ramp on the left side of the building
thank you is it in the driveway that current driveway it's on the other side
so if you go back to the photo uh of the front of the building the gray
if you uh scroll down just a bit it shows a picture of the front of the building
right there it's fine so um so i don't know if you can see it on the right hand side of the
building right where your cursor is that is a point of egress right that is that is a ramp
um for you know elderly individuals who need you know help with uh you know wheelchair you know
it's wheelchair accessible for those that need it okay and that that extends to that goes up to the
to the round floor the first floor level correct this swings all the way to the front and the back
of the property you can enter the property from either side and have access to that right okay
other questions outdoor space for uh the residents uh is that this front yard would be used for some
outdoor space for them or any yes ma'am yes ma'am the front of the property there's a uh you'll see
If he's right there, I don't know if you can see, there are two picnic tables right there on the right-hand side under the tree, but that whole area is used for outdoor space.
Thank you.
Okay, so how many bathrooms do we have?
No, we have it here.
Just give me one moment.
15 bedrooms.
15 bedrooms.
How many bathrooms?
Let's take a look.
uh six in total thank you mr schmidt sure i said no much energy are these full baths each of these
so five of them five of them are full bathrooms and there's a half bath on the first floor um
as well as a full bath on the first floor that's handicapped accessible okay and then um you're
going to have is there going to be support staff there that aid the yeah there'll be a rotating
uh shift support uh at at the facility okay and how many people is that going to be
i don't know at least one person per shift i would think yeah historically it's uh it's been
uh two to four people during the daytime um so just to you know keep an eye on everyone
can you can you explain where this ramp is on this plan because it if this is or it doesn't
show a ramp maybe can't maybe if we go here mr mr schmidt well it is not on the plan so that
right that's what i'm saying it's not on here at all yeah not on the site it's not there's on the
plan right this right the stairs the stairs are on the plan and there's no ramp
Right. The stairs are on the plan and there's no ramp. I mean, I heard you describe it, but I just don't see it.
at the front, right?
It's his sworn testimony that it exists.
The questions.
Yeah. How are the residents, the veterans referred to you? Do they come from a program or how does this work?
That's a good question. I'm going to have Mr. Schmidt talk briefly about that.
Sure. So actually the city of Philadelphia refers them to us.
They come as referrals and the city of Philadelphia pays for them through the HUD program.
So it's a programming initiative through the city that allows us to even meet the
the veterans and actually pay for them to live in these facilities.
Also, if if a veteran is homeless, we can actually recommend that he go to an organization such as Grace Cafe,
who helps support these initiatives, and they will then refer them to us so that we can give them housing.
so so this facility you have a sort of a continuum of care to assisted living or how does it work
no the average stays about two weeks that mr schmidt can get into it a little bit more
transitional house it is yeah exactly this is a stepping stone into permanent permanent housing
right any other questions questions from our attorney i just want to send out that
We're going to need the updated packet council presented to the board along with the updated proof of tax compliance.
Thank you very much.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience or the current audience?
This binder, by the way, was updated, but the tax compliance, I do believe, just expired.
So we'll get that to you.
They're annoying, Chair.
We checked it.
We checked it.
Doreen?
do we have anybody oh no hands chair okay planning commission
good afternoon chair and members of the board michael gall with the city planning commission
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing rsa3 residential single family
attached zoning at this location the proposed use is consistent with documented prior uses
and should cause no detriment to neighboring properties beyond what might be expected
The City Planning Commission therefore recommends that the board grant the requested variances for group living and minimum parking allowance.
MI 2025 001 571 6948 to 50 Tarsall Avenue. I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tana Graham, my vote is yes.
Tywin, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Number eight, MI-2025-001-579, 1989 North 63rd Street.
Alan Nockamson is the attorney.
Mr. Nockamson, there's a letter of support from Overbrook West Neighbors
contingent on a proviso of a temporary special exception.
Could you just state your name for the record?
Alan Nockamson.
To identify your client, the relationship to this property.
Yes, my client is McDonald, Real Estate Management, LLC,
and in the virtual audience is this member, Kevin McDonald.
There are two referrals.
You waived the rating of the referrals, and you agreed with your accuracy.
Please start your presentation.
Thank you.
I am not a panelist now, so I just need to be promoted.
Thank you.
You have been promoted.
All right.
So our packing materials for this special exception case includes 12 exhibits, and there were 51
and addresses notified of the community meeting.
During our presentation, we'll first review the notice of referral.
As the chairman stated, there are two exceptions to this matter.
The first is really an expansion of the use of a therapist's office.
of the use of a therapist's office. Originally, there was only the second floor of the property
originally there was only the second
had a therapist's office. We want to expand it to the third floor, so that use is existing
and has been for some time, and I have a permit which shows that. The second use is on the ground
floor. Originally, there was a furniture store there in that commercial space for some time.
We're looking to put a church there, also a special exception.
The community group, the Overbrook West Neighbors, Inc., had no opposition in support of this project so long as we agreed to a temporary variance for the length of the lease for the church.
And I have in my presentation packet a lease amendment which says that the lease term goes through September 30th of 2029.
So if this board is inclined to grant the variance or the special exception request,
we would ask that it would last for the church only until September 30th of 2029.
Again, you'll see use permits for this property showing various uses that are still currently there.
You'll see the beauty salon, which is on the first floor of the structure,
and that was a use permit in 2007.
And then you'll also see about the therapist's office in 2006.
And then maps of the area.
We are a CMX 2 1⁄2 property.
We would like to have therapist's office on the second and third floor,
have the existing use of the salon remain on the first floor,
and then to have where the furniture store used to be, a church.
And then photographs of the property here.
you can see the existing salon is right here this is the old furniture store and the second
and third floors have the therapist office or at least we would like it to be expanded to a third
story this is a proof of posting for today's hearing this is north 63rd street to the right
of property to the left of the property our interior photos so these are the therapist's
My client directly leases to therapists.
It's almost like a WeWorks therapist where it's rotating.
There are six offices in there.
These are the offices and the waiting room.
Another office, waiting room, and the different offices in there.
This is the church structure.
The church is about 1,500 square feet.
And they have a good following in the neighborhood.
They just want a different space.
And then this is the salon right here.
This is the church structure looking to the front door for the church space.
Beauty salons here.
I believe this is the beauty salon as well.
And then just basically our plans.
So I'm just going to expand out a little bit.
but you can see here this is the church this is the beauties oh actually i'm sorry that's not
there you go this is the beauty salon this is what we hope to be the church building
there's direct access for each in the front there's also exit access in the rear for both as
well instead of the first floor you go up to the second floor through a separate entrance
and then the second and third floors are all of the offices these are the existing offices there
and then on the third floor where we're hoping to expand that use are these additional offices i do
believe that they're there so it may be a legalization of that use
oops again we met with the community on may 29th at 6 30 p.m it was a very well attended meeting
Again, they were very passionate about the fact they wanted a temporary variance for the church, which we don't object to.
And then this is part of the community meeting notice that we sent out.
We also emailed that notice to relevant parties a couple weeks before the community meeting.
Again, we sent it to 51 addresses.
Those are listed to the addresses, proof of mailing to those addresses, or applications for a special exception.
notice of referral project information form deeds of property showing mcdonald real estate
management llc is the owner of the property and then finally the leases and just want to
point out the lease specifically for the church where it says the poems going to get to it
Where it says the, hold on, I'm just going to get to it.
It's September 30th of 2029.
And then Certificate of Tax Clearance.
As this board knows, the legal standard seeking a special exception is much lower than a variance.
We don't have to prove undue hardship.
We just have to show that the use that we're proposing is no worse than what you would typically expect of a use of this sort.
So first, for the therapist's office, they have been legally there on the second floor for almost a generation, and there's been no complaints.
The community had no objection to that use being expanded to a third story.
And as far as the church, again, the use is no worse than what you would typically expect.
And we're diminishing the potential impact to the community by having a temporary variance until September 30th of 2029.
With that being said, I would ask that Mr. MacDonald virtually raise his hand.
They've been a promoter to panel this, sir.