ZBA Hearing - November 29, 2023

this open space in the rear as well. We did meet with the 37th Ward Executive Committee,

Democratic Executive Committee, and the individuals in the audience as well as members of the

Democratic Organization were fully in support of this project. We also presented to them as well

as to you today letters to support from nearby neighbors the person to left and right of us the

property owners are in support of this project we have a letter of support i believe for 2222

2216 we couldn't get a letter from them but verbally you know they support this project and

mr uh gordeski would you know he's going to testify to that effect by adopting my testimony

property, or my representation right now. There's also what we're offering is not out of character to the neighborhood. This is an RM1 property. But there's similar the refusals that we're seeking for the amount of units, the occupied area, even the setback are all common to this, to this part of town. Similar situations where this board has granted

to this part of town. Similar situations where this board has granted those variances in the

past and we'll review that. Maps of the area, we're not that far from, you'll see that this

is an RM1 section of town. There is a lot of vacant land here, which is hurting the commercial

corridor in Germantown, which is a block and a half away. We're hoping that this density will

encourage other people to build in this neighborhood, but in addition to help support

that commercial border which is very important in the neighborhood as well then we'll see photographs

of the property in the surrounding area our plans and drawings or our rco meeting notice showing

proof that we um we sent that out uh to the community uh and proof of mailing of that notice

our application for appeal showing that we filed um our zoning appeal on behalf of these three

entities as well as deeds for these three entities for each of these properties are our certificate

of or certificates of tax clearance uh for these three properties and again at the conclusion my

presentation i would ask that dimitri virtually raise his hand he'll be sworn in i'll ask him a

few questions so he can adopt my testimony um so first things first is though notice the refusal

again we're not taking rsa5 property and trying to convert it into into multi-family use this is

an rm1 property um we think by combining these three properties together it makes it more

efficient rather than having you know either triplexes or quadplexes on these on each of

these properties which you know you'll then see basement use you'll see uh roof decks you'll just

see a funky floor plan not everyone's gonna have access to maybe the exterior the rear of the

property maybe not have trash rooms by combining these three properties together we're making

it very efficient and we think that having 12 units makes it a good use of these properties

there's a diversity of housing each floor will have a studio apartment a one-bedroom apartment

and a two-bedroom apartment equally important is that each of these this building will be

handicap friendly you'll see that there is built on grades so that was really important to

neighborhood too as you know there's an elderly portion of this neighborhood that can't find

housing and having a studio or one bedroom or even a two bedroom is helpful for these members

of the community but we originally had four refusals three of them remain after the change

in drawings and we would ask um you know again if the board you know uh supports this project and

you know, grants it. I don't know what the proper protocol is, but we just want to make sure that

the right refusal is reflected, you know, in the notice of decision. I don't know if you do that

by proviso and just reflect the date of the new notice refusal. But the old notice refusal is this

one. And, you know, we had a rear yard, excuse me, a side yard with refusal. And the other ones

for amount of units, occupied area, and rear yard depth, where we, again, originally we had zero

rear yard depth. We changed our plans. Instead of, you know, we expanded the building outward,

we set it back further in the rear. So with the board's approval, now we only have three refusals.

So we got rid of one. We still have the 12 units, where, again, it's not uncommon. This board has

granted such variances in the past the occupied area we still have you know 235 square feet of

open area in the rear which is more than enough for a beautiful common rear yard for the unit

occupants and then the rear yard depth we went from zero rear yard depth to five

to five feet of rear yard depth again closer into conformance of the code

and then again we we had a well-attended meeting not only are they in non-opposition they're in

actual support unanimous support of this project so they were they were very happy with the design

and the thoughtfulness of the project and then again you know we also reach out to the community

as a whole we have a letter of support from from the next door neighbor um next door property owner

verbally we have support from the one to left of us at 2214 and there's not a lot of development

around there's a lot of vacant lots um but we did reach out to many of the neighbors on north

franklin street which is to the rear bus where you know again maybe they're most directly impacted

by the by the lack of the conforming rear yard setback but even they are in these people on

north franklin street are in support of this project and then these are just the properties

and this is the 122 22 7th street

And then we use 2215 North 15th Street as a North, excuse me, North 7th Street as a guide.

and then we use 2250

Similarly, they proposed to combine three lots, put 12 dwelling units on there, and this board actually supported that as well in 2020 under calendar number MI-2020-001832.

So the amount of density created with this property is similar to the density that we're requesting to be created for our property.

And then maps of the area. Again, we're not in an RSA 5 district. Germantown Avenue is right here.

Tons of RM1, CMX2, a little purple here.

but this part of town for whatever reason hasn't been able to get going and we're hoping that this

this use along with some of the other newer buildings are going to help revitalize that

commercial corridor and again the individuals that would be most directly impacted by some

of the dimensional variances for rear yard setback and an open area are the ones who are in support

of our project too and then photographs of the property this is the front of the property

this is the hearing notice poster showing that we posted um in due course uh for today's hearing

this is 20 this is uh north 7th street to the right of the property uh north 7th street to

the left of the property then our plans and drawings that you can see we built on grade

um you know we're not you know seeking any height variance we're you know we're doing a flat brick

facade which i think was very important to the community we have you know a nice little cornice

that defines the property and most importantly and we have a huge backyard i mean it's slender

but it's huge where we can see we can put a lot of outdoor seating that's in common with the

neighbors no basement living each of the units are going to have its own storage locker which

again was important to the community because when you're dealing with studios or even one bedrooms

you're like where are you going to store your stuff and so my clients try to be as thoughtful

as possible and responsible as possible by not having basement living but but above that is to

have adequate storage for each of the units as well and then as you can see here everyone comes

in through this front door there's you come to the right and each floor is the same you have the

first unit is a studio there's a common hallway this is unit number two which is one bedroom one

bath and unit number three is a two bedroom two and a half bath instead of going down that common

hallway to the right, you keep going in the back, where everyone has access to a rear yard,

where, again, everyone's going to have access to outdoor space. Equally important is each of the

floors are going to have its own ventilated trash storage facility. So again, we're responsibly

storing trash. Given the amount of units, we're already going to be required to do commercial

trash pickup. But rather than doing what you see a lot of the duplex-triplex method,

where it's tough to, you know, where the trash is going to be stored. A lot of times we try to

store it in the units. We try to be responsible here and store the trash in a common hallway

where it will be disposed of by the client's property manager. And then again, it's the same

thing for all the other floors, the same floor plan. And then our RCO meeting notice, we had a

well-attended meeting November 21st at 6 p.m. We also emailed that notice several weeks before

the community meeting so the members of the leaders of the community knew of the existence

of that of that community meeting 131 addresses of you know for within that 250 square foot radius

of the property were mailed notice of that community meeting uh here are the addresses

proof of mailing to those addresses our application for appeal that we followed on behalf of these

corporate entities our original notice of refusal that we got updated and then our project

information form are in you know we have three deeds to the property one for each property that's

going to be consolidated and then our certificates of tax clearance uh with that being said i would

ask that dimitri virtually raise his hand dimitri has been allowed to speak could you state your

name please and spell for the court stenographer hello my name is dimitri gordeski could you

please spell it for the court stenographer first name d-m-i-t-r-y last name g-o-r-o-d-e-t-s-k-y

last name g-o-r-o-d-e-t-s-k-y right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and

nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed yes um dimitri you heard everything i had to state

today about your zoning matter yes and is it true and correct correct and do you adopt it as your

testimony all right thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no chair

no chair comments from our attorney hillary emerson not at this time mr chair questions

or comments from the virtual audience there are no hands here planning commission

good afternoon chair peter bernard for the planning commission

The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing

RM1 multi-family residential at this location.

We feel the applicant has failed to demonstrate a hardship

and this proposal represents an overdevelopment

as the proposal is twice the allowed unit density

and provides less than half the required open space.

Furthermore, the affordable housing provisions proposed

are unenforceable by the city.

Accordingly, the Planning Commission strongly recommends

the board deny the variances.

Mr. Chair, can I respond?

You can.

All right. So, again, we're allowed seven units as of right. So it's not more than we're not and we're asking for 12 and we're not doubling that. I didn't mention anything about affordability, although it does make it more affordable to have more units.

But again, in terms of the density that we're requesting, this board did approve a similar type of variance request for 12 units at 2248 North 7th Street, in addition to the 12 units that were approved at 2215 North 7th Street.

And then in terms of the occupied area, at 2120 North 7th Street, this board similarly granted a dimensional variance request.

And there's a number of properties nearby and a couple blocks over on Darien Street where they did the same.

and then for the rear yard depth this board granted a similar request for a deviant deviation

from you from the rear yard depth requirement nine feet at 2121 north 8th street and again the number

of these properties nearby and north darien street as well the property owners to the left and right

of us would be most directly impacted by the dimensional variances actually support our

project including a lot of the neighbors on north franklin street that are behind us who would be

directly impacted as well um so we for all those reasons we ask the board support uh the

variance request by way of the updated notice of refusal mi 2023 004 443 2216 north 7th street ta

A-53960, I vote yes with provisos.

Maximum 10 units per amended refusal, date 11-14-23.

Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.

James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.

Thank you, counsel.

Thank you.

number 10 mi 2023 004 233 403 south 42nd street leonard altieri is the attorney for the owner

a letter of non-opposition from spruce spruce hill community association

leonard altieri has been promoted

sir could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer

unmute yourself sir good afternoon mr chairman how are you hi hi could you state your name and

spell for the court stenographer my name is leonard l-e-o-n-a-r-d altieri a-l-t-i-e-r-i

And I'm an associate at the law firm of Claire Harrison here in Center City, Philadelphia.

Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I do.

Could you identify your client and relationship to this property?

Yep.

My client is Gabriel Boot 11.

He is the principal of the company of Boot 11 Holdings, LLC, which is the owner of the property located at 403 South 42nd Street.

all right and our vice chair has just a few questions sir good afternoon counsel do you

All right.

And our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.

Good afternoon, Councilor.

agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do have you emailed

in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case

spot these in advance of this hearing i have thank you please proceed and share your screen

you see the exhibit packet we can sir all right perfect so as i stated earlier um

we're here today to speak about the property located 402 south 42nd street this is a very

simple matter. This property has historically been used as a six-family apartment building.

The earliest records that we saw through the city was from 1933 all the way to 2012. However, the

occupancy seemed to expire in 2012. What my client is here today seeking is to bring it back up

to that historic level of the six units as you noted earlier we do have a letter of support

from the spruce hill community association which also references that the property had

historically been used as a six unit building this is the property itself an aerial church

located here in the front of the property to further show evidence of the fact that this has

always been six units we have as i'm showing on the screen right now uh six gas meters um for all

six of the units this photo right here is where the seventh meter was for the common area but

subsequently has been removed additionally we have six excuse me this is hillary i'm i'm and

maybe it's just me but i'm only seeing like your home screen i'm not seeing any exhibits

oh am i the only one yeah he's not moving through it all right okay let me try this again

how about now do you see electrical panels

yes yes i see them now thank you all right so i'll just just i won't go through that whole

thing yet but here are the six gas meters and then where the seventh one originally was right

here for the common area again the six electrical panels and the seventh one for the common area

and again the meters on the outside six of them with one on the outside as noted earlier this

property had historically been uh six units and as referenced the there's records dating back all

the way to 1933 that show that the units were that this building was always used as six units

The rental license expired in around 2012, and so what my client today is seeking is to renovate that building, keeping the exterior, and just putting in the units again.

So it'll be two units on the first floor, two units on the second floor, and two units on the third floor, which, again, is what has always historically been.

we are also adding on the back end just to make this even on floors two and three that extension

will not extend further uh on either side of the of the existing neighboring property so you can

see here the back left extends further on the property adjacent to us and you can kind of see

through the trees here same same there so that mr chairman i have no further testimony if i could

have my client mr boot 11 raise his hand and i'll have him sworn in okay

gabriel if you could raise your hand on the

he's been allowed to speak could you state your name and spell it please for the court stenographer

my name is gabriel buddha levin that's g-a-b-r-i-e-l-b-u-d-a hyphen l-e-v-i-n

right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth

yes sir proceed counsel thank you very much gabriel were you on the call when you heard me

uh testify yes and is everything that you heard true and accurate yes and can you tell me what

your position is with buddha levin holdings llc uh i'm the ceo owner operator it's my company

and so you're authorized to speak on behalf of it uh yes and if i called you to testify

would you have adopted that testimony that i provided as your own yes and with that mr

chairman i have no further questions from the board no mr chairman chairman no chair

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM OUR ATTORNEY HILLIAR EMERSON?

questions or comments from our attorney hillier emerson not for this case mr chair but um just a

quick note for um tony if she could send another link to mr snell he was bumped out of the meeting