so you're you're you're going to be aware that you have to get a hold of the rco and have a
meeting okay okay all right so mi2023 002 596 3023 welsh road this case has been continued
thank you one two three we're going to move to number six mi 2023 002 636 2507 manton street
leo movahill is the attorney there is a letter of opposition from residents organized for
there is a letter of opposition from residents organized for advice advocacy and direction
advocacy and
And I'll see you next time.
no explanation given there was a vote of three to zero and we're also waiting i believe for
tax compliance mr mulvihill leo mulvihill is coming in as a panelist chair thank you
mr chair i can confirm that we receive the tax certificate this morning thank you thank you
there we go good morning could you state your name please spell for the court stenographer
good morning it's leo l-e-o last name mulvihill m-u-l-v as in victor i-h-i-l-l
um do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
i do um could you identify your client the relationship to this property
certainly my client is j as in james p as in paul a as an alpha 2507 manthon street
and my client is on my the principal of the company is on the line as well that's mr johnson
thank you our uh vice chair has just a few questions sir good morning counsel do you agree
to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy yes have you emailed in all the
required documents and exhibits it is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in
advance of this hearing not in five days in advance i received the my client's commercial
activity license and tax clearance yesterday those were forwarded this morning and i do have
in my presentation packet as well i believe we received that please proceed um and you have
already shared your screen i believe yes so good morning members of the board we're here today for
property that's currently a vacant lot on the 2500 block of manton street it runs right in
the graceberry neighborhood uh right a couple houses in or lots in rather from the viaduct
that runs along 25th street we received the for purposes of the record the refusal appeal and
project information form are at page one area zoning maps are at two my client's deed is at eight
Zoning notice to our neighbors is at 17.
Proof of mailing is at 24.
The RCO letter is at 25.
Commercial activity license and tax information are in this packet,
but they were sent in separately to the Zoning Board Council.
Photos of the property are 27 and plans are at 38 of this presentation packet.
So going to page one of the presentation packet,
we received the refusal, members of the board,
solely because this property is zoned industrial.
The rest of the lot is zoned commercial,
pardon me, residential multifamily.
But for some reason, at the end of our side,
probably because we run the next to the train tracks,
our lot was zoned industrial.
When we get to the zoning map,
we'll see exactly what I'm talking about.
So my client was proposing to have multifamily dwelling
where there currently is a vacant lot.
That's the only reason that we have the refusal is because of the industrial nature of the zoning.
I'll go through our appeal.
There we go.
So now getting to what has been marked as page two for purposes of my submission, we can see, indicated by my cursor in the center, this blue parcel is our parcel.
You can see exactly here's the 25th Street Viaduct.
We've all had the pleasure of driving under that from time to time, I'm sure, if you found yourself in the neighborhood.
What a mess that is. But you can see we have all industrial that's owned along there.
And as we get to the photographs of the block, you will see that the block itself is not industrial in any way.
It is, in fact, residential. There are new residential construction on the block.
I believe some are multifamily as you approach 26th Street.
And we're only looking to stay within the character of the rest of the block, because this seems like it's an aberration of a prior time in zoning that this would have been industrial.
There's no feasible use for this lot as it is, you know, 17 feet wide, however many feet deep for industrial purposes.
And nobody at our community meeting mentioned that they would like to have any sort of industrial use on the property.
In fact, as the chair noted, there was no explanation given in the letter from the RCO as to why there was opposition, but voiced to us at the community meeting, and my client will be happy to verify this, was that the immediate neighbors didn't appear for the meeting.
Why that is, I don't know.
My client had personally reached out to them.
We did send out the letter ahead of time so they were aware of the meeting.
We had postings that were put up on the property.
I'm not sure if any of the immediate neighbors have shown up.
But that was the only reason that there was any opposition to this at all, because the neighbors didn't show up to the online community meeting.
But that was the only reason that there was any opposition to this at all because the neighbors didn't.
But that's our parcel.
This is the overhead Google Maps version of it.
And I'll just zoom in on that a little bit.
So this is our vacant lot right here.
There is a tree there that's being taken care of shortly by my client to ensure that it doesn't cause any damage to the adjacent properties.
He's been in consultation with an arborist.
Along these empty lots here, my understanding is since this photo has been taken, when we get to the more recent photographs that I have, there is new construction here as well.
And we'll get to that in a moment.
This is just a little bit more zoomed in view of the block itself, taken directly from Google Maps at page four of my presentation packet.
This is taken from Google Maps as well.
This is looking westbound onto Manton Street from 25th Street.
There is new construction. Actually, it's already occurred in this corner lot here.
This is looking eastbound towards the viaduct that I was discussing earlier.
The subject lot, you can see where this tree is. It's off to the left.
And the houses you can see are generally elevated as you approach 25th Street,
whether that's due to the slope of the street and necessary drainage for the properties,
I'm not entirely sure, but as we approach Mantons, the steps for these houses do get higher.
And there's just another Google view of the property itself. Page eight, this is my client's
deed. This is the notification letter at page 17 that was sent out to all of the neighbors,
including a copy of the refusal page 19 we have a list of all the rcos and neighbors that received
a copy of the letter and there's the proof of mailing at page 24 page 25 as the chair noted
we do have this letter of opposition my recollection was initially it was one in favor to
oppose i'm i'm guessing that after there was additional discussion once we had left the
meeting. They changed the vote to three, no, zero, yes, but I'm not entirely sure why other than
the reasons that were told to us at the meeting, which were to the best of my recollection,
hey, our neighbors didn't show up. What's going on with that?
That's my client's commercial activity license, which we sent over this morning and I received
yesterday. That's a tax clearance for the property as well. Here's a photograph of the
property and the posting. There's the tree that we were discussing earlier. This is the new
construction that I was talking about. That's looking eastbound. I'm doing a 360 degree. This
is a recently converted factory, which I believe is a mix of commercial and residential uses.
this is new multi-family construction closer to the 26th street side of the block as you can see
same thing here and so we're not really seeking anything other than what already has existed
is existing on the block in terms of new construction the only difference between
these properties and the ones that we have is this towards the 26th street side of the block
is zoned residential multifamily, and we are zoned industrial. Otherwise, we wouldn't even
have to have gone through the zoning process. So what we're proposing is three stories with
the mezzanine with the sunken rear yard that's going to be accessed by the first floor unit.
We can go through the floor plans as well. We don't exceed 38 feet. We do have a roof deck
and pilot house. Those all comply with the setback requirements under the code.
so we'll start first with the first story and basement floor plans so there will be two front
doors in order to get to the first unit because this is a proposed three-unit building you would
enter through a door on the right entering through that door gets you into your living room
kitchen area dining room balcony and set us that's down lets you get into an office area
bathroom to the front, laundry across, mechanicals, another bathroom to the rear with a bedroom,
a full sliding door to a rear yard with steps to allow you to get the grade,
and that'll get you to this balcony area. In order to get to the units two and three,
there's going to be another door off to the left of the building.
You would enter into there and go up a set of stairs and go to the next page.
so you come up those stairs hang a right to get into unit two
this is also a one-bedroom unit kitchen to the front dining room living room area
mechanicals bathroom bedroom to the rear with a nice big window big closets
The third story has a mezzanine in addition to the third story as well, so that is going to be a two-bedroom unit with access to the roof deck.
the third story has a mezzanine in addition to
The balcony is going to be in the front here.
There's a bedroom, laundry, bathroom, living room, dining, and kitchen to the rear.
Then to get upstairs to that mezzanine level, you'd follow this little L-shaped staircase.
getting up into bedroom unit two and the ceiling would be open to the stories below
otherwise so there's a nice open ceiling area going from the second pardon me third story up
to the mezzanine area but this would otherwise be blocked off for some nice privacy for the
second bedroom area to get up to the roof deck you go up these stairs and here's our roof deck
pilot house again setback from the rear we have our five foot setback as required by code as well
so members of the board i would suggest to you that the reasons that we have presented for
our hardship in this matter namely the fact that this is a 17 foot wide parcel on a residential
block that is zoned industrial which is on a block that is otherwise residential multifamily presents
a hardship for development and what we're proposing would essentially be a by right proposal but for
the fact that we are zoned industrial on this residential multi-family block so my request would
be is that you find that we have presented evidence of hardship that you grant our request for
variances to build this residential multi-family building on a residential multi-family block
i would ask that my client be called so that we could get him to testify and adopt my testimony
he has his own thank you uh mr johnson would you please raise your hand if you're in the audience
and then they can get you in swear you in and then i can ask you a few questions
mr johnson has been allowed to speak please unmute yourself morning mr johnson could you
please state your name and spell for the course stenographer good morning uh my name is jamin
johnson j-a-m-i-n johnson j-o-h-n-s-o-n do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
is nothing but the truth i do counsel proceed please now mr johnson you've heard my testimony
today with respect to your parcel at 2507 manton street is that true that is true and the testimony
that you've heard today regarding that parcel and what happened at the community meeting
is that correct as well that is correct is there anything you'd like to add to my testimony at this
point in time with respect to either the parcel itself the arborist that you've hired or the
community meeting that we had with the community organization and grace ferry
only that uh the testimony that you presented was in fact true and i do also ask for the granting
of this this by right scenario that unfortunately is not by right due to the industrial zoning
thank you one final question for you you've had the chance to speak with the neighbors on the
block about your proposal is that true and that is correct okay i have no further questions
thank you all the new construction areas multifamily that's my understanding members
of the board at least towards the 26th street ends um i'll admit the new construction at the
25th street end i don't recall off the top of my head what that was but i could look that up right
away if your chair would like to know that's fine that's fine questions from the board no
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hands chair um planning commission please good morning chair bergman this is ian
hegarty representing the philadelphia city planning commission last name is spelled h-e-g-a-r-t-y
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes sir please proceed thank you chair good morning board members the comprehensive plan
recommends a zoning map change from i2 to rsa 5 for this in the surrounding properties on this
block the proposed use doesn't conform to either the existing or the proposed zoning however the
lot size does we agree present a hardship for industrial use and the proposed use is consistent
with recent bioreg construction on this block face which is predominantly zoned for multifamily use
today. And so the city planning recommends that the board grant the variance.
thank you mi2023 002 636 2507 main street i vote yes
james snell my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
thank you members of the board have a great day
thank you take care everybody okay number eight mi2023 002 excuse me mr chair um can we just
jump we uh jump to number 11 quickly because that that matter needs to be um i believe we have a
request for continuance on that one because the rco meeting is not held okay thank you mi 2022
00672 8107 bradford street dan lee is the the owner applicant this is a pro se this is the fourth
flesh thing i have a hand up by the name of lee horn okay okay i will allow i believe that's the
rco um and we can and the rco is absolutely welcome to speak but i would like to hear from
um dan lee first i do see him okay in the audience yeah there's dan lee right there i will promote
okay thank you you're welcome
dan lee has been promoted mr lee state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
hello testing yes hi could you state your name and spell it please for the court stenographer
uh my name is dan lee first name b-a-n last name l-i right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you put on your video please uh
okay thank you um mr lee this is the fourth listing of your case yes sure um and
we can't go on much more like this i mean it's just you know you you you haven't got the hold
of the rco until very late and um we will continue this but i would tell you that it'll be the fifth
listing if you're not ready this case is going to be dismissed you can't go on like this you you
you have your obligation is to get a hold of the rco yes okay and and and so what we're going to
do is i'm going to continue this one more time but after that that's it you understand all right
thank you all right hillary do we need to have the rco one um we can have them yeah we can i think
it will be helpful to have them come on to make sure that they are connected if the rco representative
is on please please read they're here hello hi good morning could you state your name please
and spell for the court stenographer lee horn l-e-e h-o-r-n-e right do you swear a firm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do sir mr horn could you give us your
comments on this case uh i am the zoning chairman for ronhurst civic association yes i know that
you would receive the letter from me state uh a statement of no contact with the applicant
we have subsequent to that letter the applicant has reached out to the rco and affirmed their
desire to get this straightened out in the proper way the rco is willing to work with them to make
sure this gets done properly and that they can proceed with a proper zba hearing mr horn thank
you for taking the time the calls in we appreciate it you're welcome your time you you have to get
a hold of them work with them if not this case will be dismissed yes i will so mi 2022 000 672
8107 bradford street this case continued and is marked must be tried all right thank you guys thank