Thank you.
Chair, we have 36 attendees, and we can begin as you wish.
Thank you.
Good morning.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this morning's DBA hearings.
With me is our vice chair, Northampton.
President, Mr. Chairman.
Our board member, Thomas Holliman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our board member, James Snell.
Present, Chair.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised if the proceedings are being recorded.
The video will be available by contact, TanyaSunkett at phil .gov.
For the benefit of our court sonographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question answer box on screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Let's look at our schedule this morning.
Number one, MI 2023 -002 -691 -7040 Woodland Avenue.
That case is continued.
Number three, MI 2023 -001 -071 -3929 Pine Street.
That case is continued.
Number four, MI 2023 -002 -854 -7727 Castor Avenue.
If the interpreters in the audience, please come forward, please.
Good morning, Chair.
This is Doreen Blakey, and I will co -host this morning.
No one has a hand raised at this time.
So MI 2023 -002 -854 -7727, cast revenue.
That case is continued.
Number five, MI 2023 -006 -986 -7868.
325 South 18th Street. This case is continued, attorney moving party.
Number 14.
MI 2023 -002 -863 -2528 North Jessup Street. That case is continued.
Number 15, MI 2023, 002 -685 -408 -South 45th Street.
That case is continued.
Number 17, MI 2023, 002 -750 -6930 Ardley Street.
That case is continued.
And number 19, MI 2023 -002 -780 -3122 -26 West York Street, Joseph Consul is the attorney, and also Strawberry Mansion Community Concern, the coordinating RCO, has asked for a continuance.
Would someone from Strawberry Mansion come on, as well as Mr. Consul?
Yes, Chair, we'll allow both of them to speak.
joseph console first morning mr console good morning could you spell your name for the court
sonographer please yes it's joseph j -o -s -e -p -h last name is console c -o -n -s -o -l -e all right do
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do chair and
I do, Chair.
And who's the one from Strawberry Mansion, please?
Bonita Cummings.
Good morning, Ms. Cummings. Could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court stenographer?
Bonita Cummings. B -O -N -I -T -A -C -U -M -M -I -N -G -S. Coordinating R -O -C -O for 3122 -26 York Street.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I understand you have a request for continuance.
Could you please explain it?
Presently, this property is under two failed L &I inspections from November the 15th and November the 30th of 2023.
They have open violations, and our community has the right to feel safe.
we are able as the ROCOs to get to this matter. However, we are asking for continuance to do so
because of the violations of this property. And also we have information where the community has
been harassed to not get on the public meeting. So when that happened and it didn't go the way
that the attorney expected it to go, they then sent people running around the community now
collecting signatures, further harassing this community and help making people feel afraid
to be participating in this process. So we're asking for the continuation so that we can,
as the community, we can do this matter in a way where we know that our community is safe.
Those violations are major violations, and we need to be able to address them for our community.
All right. Thank you. Mr. Consul.
We met with the RCO on November 13th at 6 p .m. We sent 206 pieces of certified mail.
At that time, there were no violations against the property.
However, the RCO, specifically Ms. Cummings, had it in their mind that my client had attached electrical service to this abandoned property without a permit.
Because of this, the RCO refused to even discuss the merits of our project, nor would they discuss what it would actually take to have them be willing to discuss the merits of the project.
There were no violations at the time, and it seems completely inappropriate to not even discuss the project at that time.
Ms. Cummings just kept vaguely emphasizing that we had to continue the ZBA hearing, but there was no actual reason stated besides what she thought was electrical service that shouldn't have been hooked up.
After the meeting, as is her right, she reported my client to L &I.
They inspected the property and issued a violation for hooking up the property to the electrical service without a permit.
This has nothing to do with what we are in front of the board for today, except for the vague opposition of the RCO. We have nothing else preventing us from presenting our case.
It appeared to me at the time, and it appears to me now, that there is another motivation that I don't understand as to why there is an attempt to delay it here.
My client has building permits submitted.
We could pull them, which would rectify the electrical violation situation, which should make the RCO happy, but we can't do that unless we can discuss the approvals today.
So, Mr. Consul.
Excuse me.
Sorry.
Excuse me, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Consul, did you say that you did not give your presentation at the meeting on the project?
She allowed us to give our presentation, but just kept emphasizing that she wasn't willing to vote, and we needed to continue the ZBA with no specific reason, because there were no violations at the time.
And they came onto the property after the meeting and after she had reported that to L &I, which she's within her rights to do, of course.
okay all right thank you i just wanted to clarify that you were able to give your presentation
we can give it and we can meet with them again i'm happy to do it it doesn't
so mr consul i'm going to continue this miss cummings i'm going to continue it
but this is mark must be tried thank you thank you
okay that was 19 i also have
case here number six
Number six, MI 2022 -006 -992 -711 South 23rd Street.
This is the second listen.
We have no exhibits.
Is Michelle Yu on the line?
Is Michelle Yu on the line?
Michelle Yu, if you're an audience, raise your hand, please.
I see no hands, Chair.
All right.
So Mr. Chair, sorry, this is Hillary.
I just wanted to note for the record that the applicant did reach out to the office about rescheduling today's hearing,
although she did not submit an official continuance request but she it may be that
she was not available to attend today thank you I appreciate that MI 2022 006 992 711 South 23rd
Street that case is continued mark must be tried and also case number 16
MI 2023 -001 -048 -42 -68 Church Lane, that case has been withdrawn.
And also number 18, MI 2022 -003 -407 -4811 Woodland Avenue, that case has been withdrawn.
is there any other request for continuances in the audience
yes chair i have adam shapiro with his hand raised i will allow him to speak
mr shapiro could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Sure. Yes, Mr. Chairman. My name is Adam Shapiro, S -H -A -P -I -R -O. I'm here on MI 2023 -002 -685. The property address is 408 South 45th Street.
okay okay so could you could you listen up do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth nothing but the truth i do okay proceed okay i'm i'm the attorney for the applicant on
this we had sent in a late continuance request okay this is number 15 mr chair we did continue
this case already we already continued that earlier sir okay i just didn't see it on the
on the child.
Yeah, it is.
It is.
It's been continued.
Thank you.
We appreciate it.
Anyone else in the audience?
No hands, Chair.
We're going to go to number 13 first.
MI 2023 -002 -227 -7923 Charles Street.
Miguel and Margetta Giagu are the owners pro se.
It's the application for use as a multifamily household living, three dwelling units, and an existing detached structure.
The proposed use of multifamily household living is prohibited in the RSA 3 zoning district.
Miguel Giagu has been promoted to panelists.
good morning sir could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer
unmute yourself here all right can you hear us yeah could you state your name and spell please
for the court yes my name is ronaldo jogu r -e -n -a -l -d -o last name g -j -o -g -u and this is
My dad, Mikel Jogu, M -I -K -E -L -G -J -O -G.
Are you the one going to testify, sir?
So do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I swear.
Our vice chair has a few.
Sorry, Mr. Chair, the property, we need the property owner to testify.
Yes, of course.
Of course.
Yeah, so you can assist him.
You can assist your father
But he needs to be the one that testifies
You cannot testify for him
Okay, I'll let him know
My English is a little bit broken
That's why
Okay, so state your name for the record
Please and spell it
It's Mikkel
M -I -K -E -L
And last name Jogu
And my wife is here with me
Okay, now
You're going to testify, we're fine
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yeah only the truth okay our vice chair has a few questions
for you yes question yes they're going to ask questions oh and we're here on the
the meeting was here today good morning sir have you emailed in all the required documents that is
good morning sir have you emailed in all the required documents that is needed
to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i i i i mailed to you
thank you uh can you you could please proceed and share your screen
well i guess we have to to to show on the screen uh all right so so at the bottom of the screen
there's a green button hit the green button with your documents and then he's going to testify off
the documents okay but we weren't we weren't prepared for that unfortunately okay all right
all right so so here's all yeah actually we're here at the meet at the zba hearing we came at
the location so we were a little lost sorry for that all right all right so so so here's what
we're going to do this is the this is the first listing we're going to continue it again and then
what you can do is call the office and they will make sure that you have everything you need to
turn in okay okay but we have everything but we didn't know we have to share it okay well you're
gonna have to share it on your computer okay i understand all right all right and thank you for
calling in we appreciate it no problem thanks a lot thank you very much thank you sir okay have a good
day I'm going to go to number two MI 2023 004 787 4015 Green Street Alok Sokoloff is the attorney
uh there's there was there's no RCO letter but there was a meeting held 11 923
The applicant also has put in 29 form letters of support from neighbors.
Oleg Sokolov is coming in as a panelist, Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Sokolov.
Good morning, Chairman.
Hi. Good. Could you please state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Absolutely. My name is Oleg Sokolov from Rabinovich Sokolov Law, O -L -E -G -S -O -K -O -L -O -V.
Right.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, Chair.
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Yes, I'm here entering appearance on behalf of Nadir Sharif and Malika Subramanian,
owners of the property located at 4015 Green Street.
And our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning, Counselor.
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, Mr. Shahid.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case in advance of this hearing?
I have. There was one item missing that was emailed this morning and has been added to the exhibit packet.
And as an aside, we did actually after the exhibit packet was due to receive a formal letter from the RCO.
So that's been added to the exhibit packet as well.
Thank you, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you very much.
all right is everyone able to see that we can sir yes okay um good morning as stated i'm here
on behalf of nabir sharif malika su romanian owners of 40 15 green street i'll go through
the exhibit packet in a moment but just by way of some background this property received the
violation for the item that is being requested to be built here as a result of some, unfortunately,
multiple unscrupulous contractors that informed the homeowners that they did not need any kind
of permits or licenses for this kind of enclosure since it was just an enclosure report. So I just
wanted to set a little context and background for the board that this isn't something that was done
You know, knowingly in violation of any kind of zoning code or otherwise, and it's an unfortunate situation where unknowing homeowners were a little bit taken advantage of by not one, but two contractors who began this work and then later abandoned it only to create a situation where the homeowners received a violation for it.
Thereafter, the homeowners have put in plans and have moved forward with this variance request.
So after that brief intro, I'd like to go ahead and go through our exhibit packet.
So as stated by co -chair, here is the refusal for the addition to an existing structure to enclose the front porch.
And we'll go through. That's the only refusal issue.
And that's the only thing that we're here seeking your approval for.
Here's our application for appeal.
Our project information form.
our project information form, and here are the plans, let me see if I can zoom in a little further.
So this is the enclosed porch that we're talking about. As you see, it was undertaken and built,
but as soon as the violation, which you can see here in the window, was issued,
all work stopped and the homeowners undertook the process of having this variance issued.
The plans don't reflect it, but as discussed at the RCO meeting, the intention here is to enclose the green area and to finish the project with a brick facade matching both the property and just generally the character of the neighborhood, which you can see.
If you can see here the neighboring property, the type of brick there, this type of facade is intended to go on the brick as well here.
and by way of some further background the real purpose of this the homeowners have two small
children they both work they were having many security issues issues with where leave strollers
as well as multiple packages constantly being stolen because they weren't able to to receive
them as they both work and as you can imagine anyone here with small children knows the packages
received by by people so it was really an issue and um Mr Sharif noticed that somebody else on
the block was actually renovating an enclosed porch spoke to that contractor and that's how
this idea to do this came about you can see the need for the enclosure based on the amount of
things in the property here's pictures of notice posters for today's meeting in the window
You can see here in the zoning map, the property is located in RSA 5, adjacent to some RM1s.
The property is located on Green Street between 40th and North Preston right here, and then
Spring Garden and Paprika here.
Mr. Sharif actually went around the neighborhood and took some notes as to similar porches
in the area, which I'd like to go through.
But here's the list of some of the properties that have been identified with having similar
porches. You can see that enclosures are fairly common in the area, whether they were done prior
to the current zoning code or by variance is uncertain, but they're certainly in line with
the character of the neighborhood. Let's see it yet again. And these don't even really align with
the construction characters. You know, they use vinyl as opposed to brick, which is the intention
for Mr. Sheree's property.
Here's our community notice letter.
We actually held two community meetings,
one on November 9th.
The RCA requested that we hold a subsequent meeting
on the following Thursday,
just because attendance at the original November 9th hearing
was a little low, so we did so
and held another meeting on November 16th.
Our certificates of mailing.
As stated by Chair Bergman, this is the email notifying us that the RCO did in fact approve
our request or support our request, and then I recently received the formal meeting letter
from the RCO. As you can see, it is once again supported by the RCO and mentions the November
9th and November 16th meeting dates. Hillary, do you have the letter?
um i did not receive the letter or the plans yet so um mr socklaw if you could um send those
immediately after the hearing that would be great so we can include them in the record
i apologize i did in fact respond to your email this morning again with the plans in the letter
perhaps they're just large and have not gone through yet but i do have a confirmation that
they were sent so you should be receiving them shortly if for some reason i will resend certainly
thank you okay yes and sometimes size size is an issue so i will keep checking okay thank you very
much answer could you bring on your client please and have your testimony adopted absolutely let me
just finish up with the excited packet i believe the letters of support for the last item here is
our deed and then for some reason the tax clearance system wouldn't allow me to pull neither under
Mr. Sharif, nor under Mrs. Subramanian's social security numbers, the actual tax clearance.
I'll continue working on that, but here is printed from the tax lender showing that all
taxes and property are in fact paid.
Thank you.
At this time, if I can bring on Mr. Sharif to just quickly testify.
Quickly testify.
His name is Sharif.
Yeah, Nadir, N -A -D -I -R -S.
Yep, I see him.
I will allow Nadir Sharif to speak.
Good morning, sir.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Good morning.
My name is Nadir Sharif, spelled N -A -D -I -R, last name S -H -A -R -I -F.
Right.
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do swear please proceed counsel thank you uh mr have you been listening to my testimony
here today yes i have listened to it incomplete okay and do you adopt it as your own yes i do
and is there anything you'd like to add for the board to consider before they make the
determination on this variance request no i believe you have presented uh the case um as
we had discussed. I just want to reiterate that I was completely led to believe that
a permit was not required. And the contractor that was working on an existing property and
was doing a full rehab showed me around the property and others that he had worked on. So
I trusted him that he was someone with experience and knowledge. And that's what landed me in the
situation or i would have proceeded with the correct knowledge from the beginning as council
noted already understood thank you thank you mr questions from the board no mr chairman excuse me
chair there was another person pamela andrews with a handout uh well i'll wanna when i when i get to
i'll call the audience and i'll see what she wants then okay oh i'm sorry forgive me no no no no no
that's fine. I depend on you to be in Miami all the time.
Thank you. Chair, if I may, Ms. Andrews is the
head of the RCO. Okay. Well, I'll get to
her. Questions or comments from the board?
No, Chair. No, Chair. Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary
Emerson? Not at this time, Mr. Chair. Questions or
comments from the virtual audience? Yes, Chair. I got a little confused
then no no no we're fine we're fine i'll allow pamela andrews to speak thank you
good morning could you please state your name and spell for the course stenographer
good morning pamela andrews p -a -m -e -l -a andrews a -n -d -r -e -w -s right do you swear or affirm
to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do please proceed good morning um
My name is Pamela Andrews. I am the chair of West Pout and Saunders Park RCO. I apologize. I don't know why you didn't receive the documentation because it was sent. But I wanted to just reiterate, we did meet with the attorney and this client twice. The RCO is fully in support of this family being able to add this enclosed porch to their property.
Thank you for giving me that.
Oh, thank you for taking the time to calls.
We appreciate it.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
There are no more hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning, David Fecto, F -E -C -T -E -A -U, with the City Planning Commission.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Please proceed.
Thank you, sir.
Chairman and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single -family zoning at this location.
This porch appears to have been enclosed without the benefit of permits within the last year.
When an appellant takes an unpermitted action by building an extension to a habitable structure, the city cannot verify that the addition is safe.
Therefore, the City Planning Commission recommends the board deny the proposed variance.
Thank you.
MI 2023
4015 Green Street
I vote yes
Thomas Holloman
my vote is yes
James Snell my vote is yes
Ishmael Shahid
my vote is yes
thank you counsel
thank you very much Sharon
I'd just like to request that my exhibits
be added to the record
oh absolutely we have your exhibits
thank you
thank you very much
Number seven. MI 2023 -002 -764 -4500 Rising Sun Avenue. Mr. Consul is the attorney. There's a letter of non -opposition from Esperanza, and there's a letter of non -opposition from Councilmember Lozada. Mr. Consul.
Joseph Consul is back in as a panelist here.
Mr. Consul, you've already been sworn. Could you just state your name for the record?
Mr. Consul, you've already been sworn. Could you just state your name for the record?
it's just
Joseph Consul.
Could you identify your clients and their relationship to this property?
Yeah, my client is Anna Rodriguez Martinez, who I believe is on the call, and her sister, Stefania Rodriguez Martinez.
Our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning, counsel. Do you 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? It is needed and required to proceed with this case five days
in advance of this hearing. Yes. Thank you. Please
proceed and share your screen. Okay.
All right. That's my packet, right?
Good morning, Joe Consul, 4500 Rising Sun
Avenue. The owners of this property are Ana and Stefania
rodriguez martinez uh similar not similar but uh on the same vein of uh building things and then
asking for permission for them here's what the property looked like prior this white fence area
in the back um was uh changed into a garage that now looks like
get you a good photo like that in the back this was done without permits my client has since
submitted the permits and the refusals related to those permits is what we are here before to
discuss um so just for uh some orientation this is the rising sun uh front of the property
and this portion of the is all zoned RSA 5. This property has a mixed zoning of RSA 5 and CMX 2.
So the front here is a previously approved two unit RSA 5 building and on the side going down
Wingahocking Street this is all zoned CMX 2. So if you look on the refusal it lists RSA 5 and CMX 2
as the zoning districts. My client is seeking to use that garage space as a space that basically
there's no vehicles that enter or exit that space at all. It is an upholstery center. So what
happens is car dealers and car rental companies bring over seats that are in disrepair and my
client rehabilitates them so the cars can continue to be rented or can be sold and you know in as a
higher quality vehicle the refusals that we have is threefold one is a use refusal because the
blended district we've got artist studios and artisan industrial is prohibited in the RSA 5
zoning district we went back and forth with um with uh licensing and they said this is not a
motor vehicle use not an auto use um but as you can see on this block this block is primarily
auto uses at least um on the front half of the block and in the back there's some other commercial
uses but there's no residential on the side of wing hawking that this garage fronts the other
uses that were, or the other refusals that were issued were the space that we're occupying,
which is a total of 87%, 87 .5 % of the property, whereas only 80 % of the property is allowed.
And then also the fact that they ate into their backyard is the final refusal. So there's a zero
foot backyard where nine is required. Now, as discussed, the property, as it says on here,
is legal for two units in the front. And so we believe that the two units with this use in the
back, which doesn't produce, you know, it's not like a car use with where there's noxious fumes
or oils or that sort of thing. We believe that this use is appropriate, especially considering
that it's a mixed cmx2 rsa5 district we went in front of esperanza on october 17th as noted
non -opposition letter was issued and we received the same from the council person here's our proof
of mailing photos showing the front of the property
photo of the garage you can see a couple of the chairs i believe the rco had just asked that my
You can see a couple of the chairs.
I believe the RCO had just asked that my client refrain from storing anything outside of the garage, which they've complied with and agreed to, to the extent that that's a proviso, showing you the kind of work they do.
They make ripped up seats nicer for vehicles.
some more photos of the inside and then the rest of our stuff the project information form
and tax clearance certificate as well as the deed are also attached
um that's the extent of it i'm going to call my client um miss rodriguez if you could raise your
virtual hand do we see him i have an rodriguez yes you've been allowed to speak yes hi could you
hi could you state your name please a spell for the course the knocker yes it's an rodriguez is
A as an apple, N as a Nancy, N as a Nancy, E as an elephant.
Rodriguez is R -O -D -R -E -S -U -E -C.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Good morning, Anne.
Did you hear my testimony today regarding your property?
Do you adopt it as your own?
yes is there anything you'd like to add to the board no okay i have nothing further
questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
um two things one mr consul did you show the tax clearance because i don't have record of
receiving that just emails that that it was being addressed oh i apologize i have the zero balance
i emailed you about that i'll i did not try to pull the tax clearance certificate this morning
but i will uh immediately after this call okay well if you do you have do you have the zero
balance that you can show because that that's all that we need okay that balance is zero yeah could
i could i email that to you okay that's fine um and then do you have a copy of the plans that you
can send as well i uh and you have i'm sorry i don't have my fingerships yeah i'll get them to
you okay thank you um and i just wanted to note for the board that the proviso that was referenced
from the rco for no exterior storage um that that would be that would be fine um to add to a decision
that the board decides to grant thank you okay thank you um questions or comments from the virtual
audience there are no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good
morning david effecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the
comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from residential single family
to residential multifamily.
The appellant appears to have built
an addition to their building
without the benefit of permit
sometime after 2020.
There is no unique physical condition
or circumstance of this property
that would prevent it
from being used entirely
for residential living.
The City Planning Commission
recommends the board
deny the proposed use variance
for artist studios
and the proposed dimensional variances
for maximum occupied area
and minimum rear yard depth.
Thank you.
MI 2023 -002 -764 -4500 Rising Sun Avenue, I vote yes with proviso. No external storage.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
It's no, Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Council, you have your three votes.
Thank you. Have a good day.
Number eight, MI 2023 -002 -761 -502 West Glenwood Avenue,
attorney is Pascual Calavita, letter of support from H -A -C -E,
and a letter of non -opposition from council member Lozada.
Applicant also provided a petition with 155 neighbors.
Pascual Colavita has been promoted morning sir could you state your name and spell for
the court stenographer good morning I could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Muscual Colavita PAS.
Pasquale Colavita, P -A -S -Q -U -A -L -E -C -O -L -A -V -I -T -A, attorney for Victor Leal Ozuna, who is somewhere on here, and if we can...
Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, told truth, nothing but the truth?
Our vice chair has a few questions.
I stipulate
to the reading of the refusal
and its contents
thank you very much
and all your documents are in
thank you
please proceed
if I may
i apologize here i got kicked out i'm back we're good we're it's all good
and again um i have victor leal azuna the owner of 502 west glenwood this was previously a three
It was 502, 504, and 506 West Glenwood.
I consolidated three deeds for him, and they're attached at Exhibit A.
Apologize, normally I shrink this.
So as you can see, he's the owner of the property.
He's been the owner since 2016 of some of them, and then 2018 and others.
I could not, for some reason, link into his tax clearance, but providing with a zero balance and to show that the additional 419 that was over there was paid on the 4th.
And yesterday I obtained it cleared and obtained the zero balance at Exhibit B.
Exhibit C was our application for the erection of it.
So this is basically what this project is, is a empty lot.
It's a angular lot that he is going to store vehicles for a separate company that he has, a tow company that he has and have a office.
And the vehicles that he's going to be storing are his vehicles, not the towed vehicle.
So this is not necessarily a location. It's not a location where he's going to be placing towed vehicles and causing any issues with the potential people coming over to inquire as to attempting to get his car or anything.
So it's just going to be his trucks that are on there. Attached is a copy of Exhibit B is a copy of the refusal, which it's a use refusal and a zoning refusal.
and i'll show photographs to show what uh their um other uh commercial uh properties uh
immediately attached and and um within a short
distance of the actual premises uh attached also at exhibit uh e as the r application for appeal
um and we can get to the uh plans which i don't know if everyone again these were submitted and
we we had to go through quite some uh treacherous uh applications resubmissions
um with uh both the streets department to show that there the appropriate turning distances
were there. There is room for, it looks like, I believe, five vehicles for him. Again,
they're his trucks, and there is a small accessory, one -story building in the top
left portion of this again non -regular shaped lot if we go to
the next page you can see what it would look like you have a door a couple windows but again this
is an office accessory to his his present business
following on page three it shows it from a sky view and let's see
page four and I can increase
page four. And I can increase this if you would like to see what it actually, I mean,
let's see if I can get the hand here. The lot from above. So you have, again, on the corner
of that property, you have a store right next to it. And right now you have vehicles that are
just there and i'll show you that that he has already improved the uh the premises on august
4th uh first we we submitted um we notified all of the neighbors attached are the uh certificates
of um bulk mailing and here is a copy of photos showing that he placed the uh the poster on it
But that is, in essence, what the front will be.
He's going to be cleaning up the sidewall of the other property.
And here are photographs of the neighborhood from the inside.
Showing across the street, other lots.
There are poles there, so that way there's no parking on pavements and the like.
right next door on both sides are again commercial properties and here's a a wider view
and the lot itself so again as could you show could you show me the rear yard the
whole issue of nine feet and you only have 18 inches could you show me that
on the plan yeah well it one of the refusals right
Right. Am I reading that right? Insufficient rear yard, nine foot.
Right. Because what he's doing, I'm presuming that what what the examiner meant by that is that he's placing.
he's placing the the building right here right on on in essence against the
okay all right i see okay you see where it is yep yep i see i see i see the yep we're good
all right thank you and again all of the petitions as stated they're over a hundred and i think 150
the uh and met with the rco letter of support with that um if you want me to no we're fine
you have any questions or if you want me why don't you why don't you bring why don't you bring him on
mr leal
mr leal can you raise your hand please
At this
There he is
He will have permission to speak
Alright
Good morning sir
Could you state your name please
And spell for the court stenographer
My name is Victor Leo
Could you please spell it
V -I -C -T -O -R
Leo L -E -A -L
O -Z -U -N -A
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
The whole truth and nothing but the truth
Yes I do I swear
Please proceed, counsel.
Good morning, Victor.
Did you have an opportunity to listen to my testimony?
Would you agree that it's accurate?
Yes, sir.
Would you adopt it as your own?
Yes, sir.
Is that sufficient?
Questions from the board?
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions or comments from Hillary Emerson, our attorney?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments in the virtual audience?
There are no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
And good morning.
David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chairman and board members,
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from commercial mixed
use two to commercial mixed use one the appellant requests two variances one for parking spaces in
the required rear yard and one for relief from the required nine foot rear depth rear yard depth
this is an oddly shaped trapezoidal lot that presents a clear hardship for its reuse under
the commercial mixed use two -dimensional standards the city planning commission recommends the board
grant the proposed variances for parking in the required rear yard and relief from the nine -foot
and relief from the nine -foot rear yard depth provision in the zoning code.
rear yard depth provision in the zoning code. Thank you.
Thank you.
MI 2023, 002 -761 -502 West Glenwood Avenue, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Eshmael Shahi, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you very much. May I be excused?
You can.
Have a great day.
Right.
All right. Number nine, MI 2023, 002 -702 -1208 Mifflin Street. Henry Clinton is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from East Pashunk Crossing and a letter of non -opposition from
Council Member Squilla. Henry Clinton has been promoted. Good morning, Mr. Clinton. Could you
state your name, please, for the record and spell for the court stenographer?
Morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Henry Clinton, H -E -N -R -Y, Clinton, C -L -I -N -T -O -N.
Right. You swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I know.
Could you identify your client in relationship to the property?
Sure. My client is Flavia, F -L -A -V -I -A, Carabella, C -A -R -A -B -E -L -L -O, and also on the call is her
daughter josephine patty p -a -t -t -i our vice chair has just a few questions for you sir
good morning counselor do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and sticking into
his accuracy i do mr chahid have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that
is needed and required to proceed with this case rob is in advance of this hearing yes i did and
just the other day i i added three more photographs of the utilities in the basement
i'm just uh he's proceeding to change the screen thank you
is that visible mr chairman it is all right thank you good morning mr chairman again members of the
board i'm here on behalf of the owner of the property at 1208 mifflin street uh flavia carabella
and she's being assisted by her daughter, Josephine Patty.
This is the table of contents for the project today,
including Exhibits A1 through A11, which I ask to be entered into the record.
This is the refusal.
This is a CMX2 zoning district, but as I'll show the board,
this part of Mifflin Street is generally residential.
We're only one block, actually a half a block from Pass Yonk Avenue.
the property is, and that's really where the commercial district is now. This used to be
more commercial than it is now, but I'll show you the aerial photographs indicating that's really
a residential area. So the refusal really concerns the use of the first floor. The first floor used
to be commercial, and I'll trace the history of that for the board, but it's being used as a
two -family dwelling, one unit on the first floor, the other on the second floor. Basically,
similar as the property that's Catted Corner to where this property is located. The property is
at the intersection of Camac Street and Mifflin Street. We do have an RCO letter of support. Just
want to point out it is unanimous support by both the East Pass Yonk Crossing Committee as well as
the attendees. So this is Mifflin Street. The property is where this red balloon is. Directly
caddy corner is another two -family dwelling directly across the street is commercial it's
a deli it's a remnant of what this whole area used to be you can see adjacent to my client's
property is residential and across the street is also residential and this is the front of
the property there's two mailboxes on the face of the property residential to the east
again uh the store to the west is a deli uh that's been there for many moons in fact my
client's property used to be a pasta distribution center uh and was known as nino's uh market and
pasta and there's there's two doors actually there's three doors uh the white door leads to
the second floor uh the front door and the side door both lead to the first floor one bedroom
apartment it's 100 lot coverage always has been we're not asking for any relief
with regard to height open space or rear yard this property has been in existence for decades
i have photographs of the the basement of the property indicating that in fact it is two units
two gas meters two electric meters two hot water heaters and there's two heaters two furnaces one
One in the forefront and one in the rear.
Just some more photographs for context.
Uh, this, these are the plans again, this is existing, uh, come back street, excuse me, come back street, uh, at the bottom of the, the, the plan first floor, even though the front is listed as a bedroom, it's really used as a living area.
These are the plans.
Again, this is existing.
come action.
So it's really a one bedroom on the first floor, uh, with kitchen living, and then the door in the middle on come back street leads you to the second floor and that's a one bedroom apartment.
it the remaining documents are what i've referenced in my table of contents we also have our tax
clearance zoning map again for illustrative purposes uh the whole row the north side of
mifflin street is all still zone cmx2 there's only one property at the corner of weissmanger
and mifflin that is commercial everything else is residential as i say across the street the
CMX1, there's a store there, and then Cata Corner to our property on the south side of Mifflin at Camac.
Again, that's CMX1, but that's also residential.
It's a deed to the property indicating Ms. Flavia owns her property.
Her husband passed away several years ago.
Our notice letter to the community.
I just wanted to show the board that the previous uses, it used to be storage, it used to be Nino's Market and fresh pasta in the early 90s, and it's been used as a two -family dwelling for at least 10 years.
again just showing you that my client did have a residential rental license for the second floor
when she listed this property with a realtor to rent it he brought to her attention the first
floor uh was not uh you could not get a rental license until it was basically approved uh my
client went to councilman squilla's office and then the office directed her how to move forward
with this matter.
So in conclusion,
this is a request
to eliminate the first floor.
I'll go back to the refusal.
Eliminate the use of the first floor as commercial
because as the chairman knows
and the board knows
in the CMX2 zoning district,
the first 30 feet of the first floor
should be commercial.
This property hasn't been commercial
for over a decade. The majority of the block on both sides is residential. It doesn't really make
any sense to make this commercial. As I said, past Yonk Avenue was a half a block away. That's where
the commercial district is. We're not impeding anyone's later error. We're not further developing
the property. We're not adding to the second floor or to the rear yard. And we're basically
in conformance or in harmony with the code and in harmony with the desires of the community
as evidenced by their full support and unanimous support of this application.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I'll rest and entertain any questions.
Would you want to have your client on to come on and adopt your testimony, please?
Correct.
Josephine, can you unmute yourself and we'll have your mom adopt my testimony if she's available?
I have Flavia Carabello. I will give her permission to speak.
Good morning. Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Mrs. Carabello or Josephine? Yes, go ahead. Hi, Flavia. Hello. Go ahead, proceed.
Say your name
My name is Flavia Carabello
Could you spell your name please
F -L -A -B -I -A
Flavia
Carabello
C -A -R -A
B -E -L -L -O
Thank you
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
The whole truth and nothing but the truth
It's the truth
Thank you
Mr. Clinton, please proceed.
Hello, Mrs. Carabella.
This is Henry Clinton, your attorney.
Were you on the call when I presented the project for your property at 1208 Mifflin Street?
Did you hear what I said?
What do you know?
You heard?
Did you hear what?
And Mr. Carabella, would you adopt my testimony as your own and that it's true?
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Clinton, I didn't receive the additional photos with the utilities in them, so if you wouldn't mind resending them to include in the record, that would be great. Thank you.
Mr. Clinton, I didn't receive the additional...
Well, I'll send the entire presentation that I just gave now, which includes those photographs.
Okay, great. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Emerson.
Thank you. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning.
David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning in this location from commercial mixed use to residential single family.
The proposed variance from the commercial ground floor requirement in the zoning code will bring the property closer into conformance with the recommended zoning.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant the use variance from the required ground floor commercial space.
Thank you. MI 2023 -002 -702 -1208 Mifflin Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We're going to move on to number 10 and 11, but we'll be hearing the both together.
MI 2023 -002 -735 -247 -West Pastor Street, and MI 2022 -007 -363 -241 -Pastor Street.
Michael McElhenney is the attorney.
There's a letter of support from the West Germantown, from the West Central Germantown neighbors.
Mr. McElhenney.
He's been promoted to panelists.
Good morning, sir.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court stenographer?
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Could you state your name, please, and spell it for the court stenographer?
Michael McElhenney, M -I -C -H -A -E -L, M -C -I -L -H -I -N -N -E -Y.
Good morning.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your clients in any relationship to the property?
The clients are Mary South and Karen Olivier.
Okay. And our vice chair has just a few questions, sir.
Good morning, Counselor. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case?
I'll have these in advance of this hearing.
Yes, we have.
And we did provide an updated exhibit for the tax clearance for 241.
Thank you.
Please proceed and share your screen.
Good morning again.
On the screen is the exhibit packet for the property at 241 West Pastoria Street.
There is a second packet that was submitted that is nearly identical for 247 West Pastoria.
And just by way of background, preliminary matters, both packets have the zoning appeal at Exhibit 6, photographs of the property having been posted with the zoning posters at Exhibit 7.
The RCO neighbor notice that went out for the meeting on November 1st is at Exhibit 8.
the deed to both properties. It's actually a deed of correction. My client purchased this
from a developer during COVID in November of 2020. That's at Exhibit 9 for both addresses.
The tax clearance for both properties is at Exhibit 10. And originally for 241, we had an
issue with the abatement not being implemented, thanks to Council for the Zoning Board to work
with us in the Office of Property Assessment to get the tax balance. And now we actually have a
credit on the account for 241, and 247 is tax -complied as well with a zero balance.
And I'm going to zoom in.
As you noted, Mr. Chairman, we do have a letter of support from the community, 18 in favor,
three opposed, for our variance requests for both properties.
My client owns 241 West Pastoreas, which is their house.
247 West Pastoreas is their side yard.
It's a separate parcel, but it is used as a side yard together with their house.
The refusal, there are three of them.
My client installed a fence around both parcels, and we have identical refusals for 241 and 247 Pastoreas.
Essentially, the fence on the front of the property is more than six feet tall, is 6 .17 feet, whereas four feet per minute.
more than six feet tall is 6 .17 feet, whereas four feet per minute. And it's a wooden fence,
the majority of it. So that's more than 50 % opaque. The side fence on the side side of the
property, again, is more than is allowed to be six feet, but we're 6 .17 feet. And the reason for
the additional height is just how the install its company did their footer. And it raised it a little
over the six foot limit. So it's a very de minimis request for the variance in terms of the height of
the fence on the side of property. Exhibit three are just zoning maps and aerial maps for the
property. The property is zoned residential and this is not a use variance just for a fence
and it will help the board to look at the fourth photograph which the third photograph depicts
the property in the middle of the screen on Pistorius. To the west is West Topol -Hawken
Street, and to the east is West Walnut Lane. Pastoria Street is a very narrow street and
actually serves as the rear of a lot of these large properties that front the other streets.
A lot of these are properties that go back over 100 years, and these were estate -type properties.
My client's property was subdivided from this property on Tupelhocken to create two smaller
partials. And the fourth photo is a close -up of my client's house, which is on the right of the
screen and the vacant lot at 247 next door. And again, we have a wooden fence that was installed
around the entirety of both parcels that were seeking permission to legalize the height and
the wooden fence. Exhibit four are just the site photos for the property. My client's house is in
the middle of the screen. The wooden fence at issue separating the properties to the north
is highlighted. The second photograph shows that partial on the front of the property is a
metal fence that meets the opaqueness requirements, but it is 6 .17 feet. So it is
slightly higher than what's allowed by code by right. And going to the south at 247 West
Pastoreas is the wooden fence that my client installed along the front property line.
Scrolling through the remaining photos, going to the south, just to give context to the block,
as the board can, and I should mention, not a zoning issue, but one of the things my client
does have a pet and that has gone through spinal surgery. And one of the reasons for the wooden
fence was to limit interaction with cars and neighbors walking up and down the street on
Pistorius. As you can see, looking south, there's not much of a sidewalk on Pistorius. It's basically
a rear drive that services the properties on Tupulhocken and Walnut Lane. Many of the properties
are built right by the property line by the curb line as you go down towards walnut lane or strike
that towards wayne avenue to the south most of the houses are long existing houses built near
the property line with off -street parking and curb cuts on when you get to the end of the block
on the east side at wayne avenue you can see old houses that are built right by the property line
and on the screen on page eight is 269 West Walnut Lane. It's the rear of that property
and as you can see it's built right at the property line and coming back up to the north
towards my client's property again you'll see masonry walls that are more than six feet tall
along the rear of the properties. Continuing along at 261 West Walnut we have again a six
foot wooden fence identical to what my client has installed around her property and
a similar fence at 260 West Pistorius along the Pistorius Street corridor and the other
properties coming back up to my client's house, properties that are very similar
with the wooden fences along the rear property. Farther to the north is a new construction
development that my client put the wooden fence to separate from that development and have some
privacy. And farther along, we have off -street parking that services those properties on
Tuplehawk into the north or to the west and Walnut Lane to the east. And on the left side
of the screen on page 12, you can see another, it's a PVC fence, but it is a solid wooded fence
fronting the property, again, six feet high. So my clients is in keeping with the other existing
characteristics of the block and the other fences on the block. At exhibit six is the zoning plan
for the subject property 241 and the neighboring property at 247 and it just details the existing
wooden fence that's around the exterior of the property and we're looking to legalize
that fence. With that being said that is all of the exhibits members of the board and I hope I
did that efficiently enough. I would request that my client Mary South raise her hand and
My client, Mary South, raise her hand, and we can ask questions from the board if necessary.
And we can answer questions from the board if necessary.
Mary South has permission to speak.
Good morning, Ms. South.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, sir.
It's Mary South, M -A -R -Y -S -O -U -T -H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed.
Mary, Ms. South, did you hear my presentation to the board this morning?
Yes, I did.
Were my statements true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
Yes, they were.
Would you adopt my statements as if they were your own?
Yes, I would.
No further questions from my client?
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
there are no hangs chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good morning
david effecto with the city planning commission chair and board members the comprehend i'll give
testimony for both uh 247 and 241 in west pastorius um the comprehensive plan recommends a change in
zoning at this location from residential single family detached three to residential single
family detached one. The appellant appears to have built a side fence and a rear fence without
the benefit of permits. The appellant has not shown that complying with the fence height,
opacity, and distance requirements in the zoning code will prevent an economic detriment,
preventing them from deriving value from their property. The City Planning Commission recommends
the board deny the proposed dimensional variances. Thank you. I'm going to vote them both at the same
time. Number 10, MI 2023 -002 -735 -247 -West -Pastoria Street. And number 11, MI 2022 -007 -363 -241 -West -Pastoria
Street. I vote yes to both. Thomas Holloman, I vote yes to both. James Snell, I vote yes to both.
thank you counsel thank you we're moving on to number 12 mi 2023 004 331 12285
mcnulty road brandon saverin is the attorney there is a recommendation of support from the
parkwood civic association unanimous no explanation
Brandon Saverin has been promoted to panelist good morning counsel could you please state your
name and spell for the court stenographer good morning Mr. Chairman my name is Brandon Saverin
that's spelled b -r -a -n -d -o -n and then s as in sam a v as in victor r -a -n as in nancy right do you
swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do could you
identify your client the relationship to this property my client is the tenant of suite 103
in this building um the business's name is fitness by erica llc um and erica raymer is here to adopt
testimony on its behalf our vice chair has just a few questions good morning council do you agree
away the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy. Good morning, Mr. Vice Chairman.
Yes, I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required
to proceed in this case five days in advance of the hearing? Yes, I did. Thank you. Please proceed
and see your screen. Thank you. Good morning, members of the board, and thank you in advance
for your time. I, as I mentioned, am here to speak on behalf of a tenant in this building.
And just to give you a sense right off the top about what kind of business we're talking about,
this is a photo of the interior of the business space. It is a fitness gym. Here is the main
gymnasium space. And then here is the business's lobby. And I'll show you more photos in a moment,
but those are part of exhibit 11 of the exhibits I submitted to the board in advance of this
hearing. I submitted 14 exhibits in total, and I would ask that they all be moved into the record
at the conclusion of the hearing thank you thank you mr chairman uh so uh on your screen is uh
now the refusal um so uh this is just a use variance so uh no no dimension
So, this is just a use variant. So, no dimensional refusals, just one use refusal. And it's for the use that you just saw. It's for fitness use, which in the zoning code is categorized as a type of personal service. So, that's the use we're talking about, personal services.
um uh to give you some further background um at exhibit one um is my memo uh to the board
and in that memo um i walk through um why i believe um my my client erica's business
satisfies the requirements in the code uh for a variance um and i'll walk through those
requirements in a moment, but among the sort of pieces of evidence in the memo is this. This is
a screenshot from L &I's website showing that this board, the zoning board, granted Erica and her
business a use variance for the exact same use in 2018, but it was a three -year temporary variance.
So what happened here is that earlier this year, Erica called me in a panic because she realized
Not with a violation, just I think on her own accord that this had expired and she needed a new variance.
And what I'm going to ask the board for today, if you're willing, is this time to grant permanent variance, not one that is time limited, because as you'll see in a moment, every single person that voted at the RCO meeting supported Erica.
And we also have a letter of non -opposition from Councilman O 'Neill.
And I sent that this morning, as you know, they come in at the last minute sometimes.
But Councilman O 'Neill's letter does not recommend a time limit on this variant.
So I will thus ask you, if you're willing to please grant this variance without a time limit so that Erica can invest in her business and in equipment for the gym,
rather than paying an attorney like me thousands of dollars to do this a third time sometime in
the future. In any event, let me show you at exhibit 14, the RCO meeting summary. And you
can see here that 15 people voted, all 15 were in support. This was an in -person meeting that
Erica attended of the Parkwood Civic Association. I would also mention that one of the
requirements for a variance is that the variance doesn't cause negative impacts to the greater
public. And I think since this business has been in place for five years, the public has had a
chance to observe whether or not it causes any negative impacts on them. And I think a unanimous
vote of support is proof that this business does not generate negative effects that harm the public.
Another requirement for variance, as you know, is that we are supposed to have a hardship.
And I think we really do have a hardship here. So I just want to walk you through it for a moment.
At Exhibit 7 is the zoning map. And here's our parcel. And then at Exhibit 8, I have an aerial of the parcel and its building.
And what you'll see is that this is part of an office park, essentially, that is centered on McNulty Road and Southampton Road.
And here in the distance is Roosevelt Boulevard. So we're in the far northeast. If you go back to the zoning map, what you're going to see is that all of the land in this complex, and I'm sort of tracing for you to the east of the boulevard where this business park is, it's all zoned either industrial or residential.
And I don't know why any of it's zoned residential because none of this is used for residential purposes. But let's put that aside for a second. Most of it is zoned industrial. Our property is I1. And the problem with that is that today, and the board may know this, I don't intend to speak condescendingly.
The types of users that are looking for industrial space want enormous buildings, particularly when they're doing, you know, warehouse and distribution related uses.
And this complex, although the buildings are big, they're not that big.
They're not the, you know, hundreds of thousands of square feet type buildings that modern industrial users are typically looking for.
So while I understand why this zoning was put on this complex, it's because when it was built, these were appropriate spaces for industrial businesses.
Today, they're much less attractive, but the zoning has never been updated.
So if the zoning were what what I would say is more appropriate, something like I.
So if the zoning were what I would say is more appropriate, something like ICMX, something that allows non -industrial commercial uses, this would be a by right use, or I believe it would at least.
But the problem here is the zoning from historical inertia only allows pure industrial uses.
So that represents a hardship for the property itself, because I don't think it can find
industrial tenants to fill the whole building.
And it represents a hardship for Erica as the tenant, because in order to place her
business, she can't do it anywhere in this entire area.
She basically would have to go, if you look at the map, down in the bottom left corner,
there's some commercially zoned space on the other side of Woodhaven Road.
But that driving distance is a full mile from the property. So many different types of business owners, including Erica, if they want to be in this Parkwood neighborhood, they need a variance no matter where they try to put the building.
So the variance is unavoidable, and I would say that represents a hardship.
Thanks for letting me talk through that, and I'll move on quickly now.
Just to sort of give you some examples of other folks that are located in our complex,
one of our paralegals went through some of the other buildings, and there are plenty of other non -industrial businesses like ours.
Other fitness studios, a nutrition store, a cigar shop, a healthcare center, a beauty salon, etc. And I've provided the addresses of those businesses in my memorandum at Exhibit 1. So we're sort of right at home with similar uses in this complex.
I've shown you let's go to the key plan of the building so and these are the other tenants here
at exhibit nine in our building itself again most of these are not what you would particularly call
industrial you know video editing you know etc it's a mix but they're not all industrial
at exhibit 10 is a floor plan of Erica's business itself I'm not going to go through this but
just to say you saw the gym that is an open space that occupies most of the tenant suite. And then
she has two bathrooms, three offices for staff, and that lobby I showed you in addition to a
storage room and a utility closet. And none of this is changing. This has all been in place since
2018. I did show you a couple photos just to show you a few more. I believe this goes to one of the
restrooms that's one I showed you already that's the lobby another angle of the gym space this is
one of the office spaces one of the restrooms another one of the office spaces the other
restroom I think you get the idea and I think really that I'll leave it at that I'll bring on
Erica to tell you a little bit more about the business but that that concludes my presentation
unless the board has any questions.
Thank you.
Why don't you bring your client on?
Erica Raymer.
Are you out there?
Good morning.
Hi, good morning.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Erica Raymer, E -R -I -C -A -R -A -M -E -R.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Machine counsel. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Erica, was I correct that you are the owner of Fitness by Erica LLC? Yes, correct. Okay. Did you hear my testimony in your zoning case this morning? Yes, I did.
And I know that you're not an expert on the zoning map, but to the best of your knowledge, was my testimony true and accurate? Yes, it was. And would you therefore adopt it as if it were your own testimony?
Tony? Yes. I'm just going to ask you a couple questions. One thing I didn't hit on. At your
building, is there ample parking for your clients? Yes, there is. We have a full parking lot and then
street parking as well. Okay. And last question. In a minute or less, very briefly, can you tell
the board about the types of clients, the types of classes that you offer in this space?
Sure. So just a quick summary. We are a class only gym. So the facility is only open during active business hours of classes. So typically two to three hours a day only. And when we're open in the evening, the other businesses in the strip are actually closed. They close after 5 p .m. So we're the only people utilizing the parking lot at that time. And I think that at this point, we've been there five years. We definitely have brought a lot to.
And I think that at this point, we've been there five years. We definitely have brought a lot to the community. We take care of the building. We take care of the outside. And I'm in good standing with the landlord. We made it through COVID and everything. So I think that we bring a lot to the neighborhood being there as a business.
Okay. Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments?
Thank you.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
No hands, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good morning, David Effecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from Industrial 1 to Industrial 2, General Industrial.
Neither the current or proposed zoning allows the proposed group fitness classes.
However, in 2011, licenses and inspections issued a use permit for this property for an athletic facility with batting cages.
The proposed fitness center is consistent with the previously approved use.
The City Planning Commission recommends the board grant a proposed use variance for group fitness classes.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I'm so sorry to butt in.
I just wanted to make one more request.
I think I forgot to mention this.
If you could, perhaps in a proviso, specify that the variance is with regard to suite 103.
Our council is already advised.
I'll just show you that.
So MI 2023 -004 -331 -12285 McNulty Road.
I vote yes.
Proviso, use limited to unit 103.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose case has not been called on the morning list?
there are no hands chair thanks everyone see you everyone at 2 p .m all right all right
Two o 'clock.
Patina, we're ready to go, right?
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this afternoon's EBA hearing.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ishmael Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holloman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, James Snell, should be joining us shortly.
Also present is Hilary Emerson, our Attorney, and our Executive Director, Tanya Sunken.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded.
Video will be available by contacting tanyasunken at philo .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we are asked attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you're participating by phone and you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
To enter the appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
And finally, the question -answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunk.
Let's look at our schedule for this afternoon.
Number two, MI 2023 -004 -813 -1200 South Broad Street.
That case is continued.
Number four, MI 2023 -005 -769 -2628, South Street, that case is continued.
you. Number six. MI 2023 -004 -818 -4849 Parkside Avenue. It's Mr. Feldman here.
Mr. Chair, Mr. Feldman submitted a written request for continuance. This is the first listing.
All right. Thank you. So MI 2023 004.
All right. Thank you. So MI 2023 -004 -818 -4849, Parkside Avenue. That case is continued.
Number 10. MI 2023 -004 -624 -2628, South Street. That case is continued.
Number 12. MI 2023 -004 -599 -488 Byberry Road. That case is continued. Number 13.
Mr. Chair, I was going to say we received a written continuance request for that one attorney moving party.
All right, good. Okay, so number 13, MI 2023 -004 -915 -843 -North 40th Street, cases continued, attorney -moving party. And number 14, MI 2023 -004 -889 -3360 Stokely Street, that case is continued.
Also on the list, number seven.
MI 2023 -004 -793 -6401 Wayne Avenue.
Is Mr. Masters here?
Good afternoon, Chair.
This is Fatina.
I'll be your co -host for this afternoon.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
And I have allowed Mr. Masters to speak.
Mr. Masters, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
By lawyers, no doubt.
Yes, hang on.
I have a technical issue for a moment.
All right, take your time.
Okay, I am here.
Could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Steve Masters, S -T -E -V -E, M -A -S -T -E -R -S.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Masters, number seven, is that going to be withdrawn?
Can you share the zoning permit number?
Because we have two.
Oh, sure.
Sure, sure. So, zoning permit number ZP2023006432.
Yes, that one will be withdrawn and we will be proceeding with ZP2023006432.
Number eight, we'll be doing number eight.
Yeah, 8241.
Yeah, right. So, I'm going to withdraw this right now, okay?
Thank you so much.
Thank you. So number seven, MI 2023, 004 -793 -6401, Wade Avenue. This case has been withdrawn.
We're going to go to our ad. Is there any other requests for continuances?
There we have Stephanie, last name ending in M.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, Stephanie Magania, S -T -E -P -H -A -N -I -E, Magania, M -A -G -A -G -N -A.
Do you swear for them to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Are you talking about 1200 South Broad?
I'm not.
I'm here on behalf of 3929 Pine Street.
It's MI 2023 -001 -071.
My office did send in a written request for continuance as attorney moving party.
okay let me get that
Hillary what number is that
I'm looking Mr. Chair that was this morning on the 9 30 list that was continued that was
continued this morning okay great thank you very much but we did not receive I would say but we
did not receive a request that that be attorney moving party so if you can reach out to the office
Ms. McGagno separately and let us know you'd like to make that change we can do that thank you
thank you very much okay thank you go on to our add -on list
number one on the add -on list mi 2023 004 191 1807 pine street
I vote yes with proviso. Revised plans, one page, stamped by ZBA, December 6, 2023, maximum seven units.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes, with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes, with proviso.
And number two, MI 2023 -002 -682 -1317 South Ruby Street, I wrote yes.
Vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, I vote yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
On to our regular list.
Number one, MI 2023 -004 -877 -2802 Bodine Street.
Joseph Vaccaro is the attorney.
Letter of support from IMPACT and a letter of non -opposition from Council Member Lozada.
Joseph Vaccaro is coming back in as a panelist.
Mr. Chair, I just want to note that we also received a letter of non -opposition from State Senator Tartaglione.
Oh, thank you.
I appreciate that.
i could state your name and spell please for the court stenographer
certainly good afternoon may please the board my name is joseph
vicaro v -a -c -c -a -r -o attorney on behalf of the church iglesia de dios roca de vida
they are the applicants for this application all right do you swear for him to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Okay. Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? Yes, I do. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and
required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing? Yes, I do. Thank you.
please proceed and share your screen. Okay, thank you very much. May please the board,
this is our application to permit a church on this property. By way of history, this property
is zoned as a single family, but as we'll see in the photographs, this building was never designed,
was never built, was never used as a single -family home. In fact, it's a very large
warehouse type of building, and it was used accordingly as a warehouse. And now the church,
after the church had purchased the building, the church recently discovered that it's not
zoned to be used as an assembly hall for the church, and we're proceeding with this application
to allow this variance to be put in.
Can you see the documents that I'm sharing?
We can, sir.
Okay, so I'm starting off.
We're just going straight down with the documents
that are part of this application.
We have the application for appeal,
which we've already read, the refusal.
Here's a sky view of the property.
This is the building over where my cursor is.
And here's a front view from Google.
Another front view.
And scrolling down, I have some more pertinent photos of the property.
in addition to the letter that I sent to the near neighbors.
And we're just scrolling down to some photos of the inside and the outside of the building.
Okay, so here are some photos of the inside of the building
and the outside, the poster that I put up, timely.
And you can see that this is just a large assembly hall style building, and as I had
had stated earlier, this was used as a warehouse before the church had purchased the building.
stated earlier, this was used as a warehouse before.
The church members would be using parking across the street, but that would be the subject of some
future action before the board again. They also have land behind the building,
which they could use for parking, again, subject to some future applications.
So here I am showing the board the back alley that comes off of the side street from Boudinot.
This is the back of the building. My cursor is over it.
You see the cinder blocks that are blocking, that are closing off a window that's no longer being used.
here's another view of the back of the building
this is not the main entrance this is the back entrance that would be used for emergency exits
and again the church owns all of this green space
all of this land behind the building this is all owned by the church
we're just scrolling further down again here this is all the church's land which again the church
would be able to use for parking subject to future applications
this is a side view of the church
and this what we're showing you now this is the property that the church owns across the street
from the building in question uh this would be subject to future applications um with with a lot
consolidation again to be used for parking for the church members but that would be ancillary to the
pending application for the use permit for the main building right now.
And here's a front view of the building as it currently looks.
Now, one of the comments that we had when this application was refused is that the refusal said that the building was attached.
The building is not attached to either rejoining property. It's a completely self -standing building, and there was space between this building and the property to the south, as well as the next property to the north.
So the building is not connected to any other building.
with me i have pastor edwin sullivan with a few other church members um
and i would have a few questions for the pastor as to what days of the week
and what hours the church would be in operation i want to bring pastor sullivan on sure he's in
the room with me so okay sure hi pastor how are you could you please state your name
and spelled for the court stenographer, sir?
Yes, my name is Kevin Sullivan.
Mr. Vaccaro, could you get him a little closer to the microphone?
Oh, yeah.
God bless everyone.
My name is Kevin Sullivan.
E -D -W -I -N.
My last name is S -O -L -I -V -A -N.
Sullivan.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth?
Yes. Proceed, counsel.
Okay. Pastor, how long have you been
the pastor of the church?
I'm here
two years.
So you've been here two years.
What days of the week would the church
be in operation?
This is Monday
30 to 8 30.
In the evening?
In the evening.
8 p .m.
Tuesday, 7 .30 to 9 p .m.
Thursday, 7 .30 to 9 p .m.
And Sundays, 11 a .m. to 1 o 'clock.
How many members does this church have?
Right now it's about 80 members.
We're working with the community to find some work.
What kind of work is the church doing?
Besides preaching the Word of God, what else are you doing?
we um grab food and go out with the with the communities outside here in the corner with
some of them and helping with some food sometimes and things like that we go to the community to
to help with the need that the community has.
And in the summertime,
we do the big service outside.
And reach out.
And reach out, yeah.
Bring our people to the community
and help with their needs.
and then we
announce
CD hub to the community
and like that we go
and try to help people
help people
help people is our
commandment
did you hear me
make my presentation to the board just now
you were in the same room right
and that everything I say to the board
was accurate
and you would adopt it as your own testimony okay uh does the board have any other questions
of the pastor so one on one uh questions from the board no mr chairman no chair and jim snell
i have you jim thank you jim okay thanks thanks bill okay basically no chair okay thank you okay
Thank you, Pastor. Basically, what brought the church to this point is they were operating, minding their own business, doing exactly what the pastor was saying.
And then eventually, one day, a city inspector came in and said, you're not zoned, you're operating illegally, and we had to start the process.
Okay. So, Hillary, the refusal is because it's detached, right? It has to be completely detached?
Right. And there's space.
Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe, Mr. Vaccaro, let me talk to my attorney.
Oh, I'm sorry.
No, no, I'm talking to Hillary. Hillary, so what would the vote be on this?
well the only so if the board wants to consider that their that the refusal was issued an error
then we would need to really have an appeal against lni and call in um leonard to to um
deal with the case that way or we can vote or we can just vote on the the variance request noting
that the that there is an objection on the record to the refusal all right all right thank you um
hillary you have any other comments i do not at this time thank you um comments from the virtual
audience i see no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good afternoon david
effect with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the residential single family zoning at this location um the continuation of this use
will not injure the use of adjacent properties the city planning commission recommends the board
grant proposed use variants for religious assembly in an attached building building thank you um
MI -2023 -004 -877 -2802, Boldenine Street, I vote yes and take note to the appellant's
comments relative to the detached structure. Is that okay, Hillary?
That's fine, Mr. Chair. We won't include it as a proviso, but we will note that,
you know, for the record, the argument is preserved. Thank you.
So I, MI 20, 23, 004, 877, 2802, Bodine Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you.
Have a good day.
Okay, so number three, MI 2023 -004 -601 -900 -204 North 2nd Street.
David Orfanides is the attorney.
There is a letter of support from North Liberty's Neighbors Association.
David Orfanides is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
Hi, David.
Could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Certainly. David Orphanides, last name is spelled O -R -P -H -A -N -I -D -E.
Certainly. David Orphanides, last name is spelled O -R -P -H -A -N -I -D -E -S.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Certainly. My client is 900 N 2nd Street, LLC, near owner of the property.
Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, counsel. Do you 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 five days in advance of this hearing i did forward everything
it was not five days in advance there was a miscommunication and um they were submitted on
monday understood council please proceed and share your screen thank you can you see my screen we can
Okay. So again, my name is David Orphanides. I'm with the law firm of Orphanides & Toner. I'm here this afternoon for 900 to 04 North 2nd Street. I have a photograph of the property up on the screen right now. As you can see, it's a corner property. It's located on the northwest corner of North 2nd Street and Poplar Street and Northern Liberty section of Philadelphia.
I have with me today a representative from the owner, 900 N2nd Street, LLC, as well as the architect for the project on the call.
And they will be adopting my statements later on to conclusion of my presentation.
As you can see, the subject property is presently an undeveloped lot.
There is no structure existing there.
um historically uh if you take a look at the sanborn maps as i've included at tab 13
you could see at one point um this property was composed of three separate parcels
902 904 north second and 203 poplar this goes back to 1929 sometime between 1951 you see here
In 1976, you see here, the structures on the property were demolished.
And from that point, sometime between 51 and 76, to the present day, the property has remained a vacant lot.
Recently, it was utilized as outdoor seating for a restaurant that was at the property next door.
um so but other than that there's been no structure that's been uh that's existed here
uh as you could see both in the sanborn maps that i showed you as well as the zoning maps
uh the sanborns are tab 13 the zoning map at tab 10 as well as the deed that i have included uh at
tab 16 you can see that the property is extremely irregular in shape it's wider at second north
2nd street and then tapers down considerably uh as it extends westward down poplar street
and in fact you can see from the zoning drawings that we have here
at the front and i will zoom this in a little bit for you
there we go um the property narrows down to just uh about 12 and a half feet to the west
and we're at a considerable 37 feet at North 2nd Street.
So you can see it cuts down almost in half.
If this were a rectangular building,
we wouldn't even be, I mean,
a rectangular lot with a rectangular building on it,
we wouldn't even be here today.
But because of the way the property tapers to the west,
it's necessitated one refusal that we have here,
which is an open area refusal.
For corner lots, as you know, with CMX 2 .5 zone properties, which is what we have here today, the required or the maximum permitted occupied area is 80 percent, and we're at 89 .96 percent.
Going back to that existing photograph, you can see that we are located between – I'm just going to change this.
You can see that we're – again, we have a budding building to the north of us, 906 North 2nd, and then another building to the west of us at 209 Poplar Street.
Neither of these properties have the required rear yard depth.
We do have the required rear yard depth here. We're nine feet required, and we're a little bit over 11 feet.
And they also similarly have less than the required open area.
And again, if you take a look at the Sanborn maps, you can see here that I'm circling this is 209, which looks to occupy 100 % of the lot.
And then here's 906 to the north of us, 209 to the west, to the left, 906 to the north or above our property.
906 to the north or above our property, extending all the way to the rear property line.
extending all the way to
There is a little bit of open area, a court here.
There's a little teeny part of this that belongs to 209 Poplar Street.
The rest of it belongs to 906.
But we don't have, so abutting us, our property to both sides are non -conforming structures.
the application is for a five -story building with the required commercial space at the ground floor
here you can see in the upper right hand corner we're utilizing all of the ground floor for the
non -residential non -parking use except for the entry the lobby which comes in the lobby for the
residential units and staircase and elevator that comes in off of poplar street this property is
Zone 2, CMX 2 .5, the lot area is 1 ,686 .08 square feet.
I've included provisions from the zoning code, which indicate with a lot area of this size,
we would be permitted just over six residential dwelling units.
We are only proposing four, one at each of the levels, one residential flat at the second floor,
one at the third floor, one at the fourth floor, and one at the fifth floor.
As you can see on the elevations that I have up here on the site plan, we have bay windows and balconies on the Poplar Street side, and we have bay windows at the second through fourth floors with a balcony above that at North 2nd Street.
We did add a balcony above the bay windows on North 2nd Street, similar to what occurs on Poplar Street, and that change was made through the process that we've gone through to get to the hearing today, and that's the only revision we have to the plan that was originally submitted and reviewed by the Streets Department, the Planning Commission, and the Department of Licenses and Inspections.
Again, the only refusal we have is the occupied area slash open area.
There is a corrected notice of refusal that was issued back in November.
There was some language issues with the description of the project.
The original notice of refusal is included here.
You can see they missed the reference to where the balconies were located originally on Poplar Street.
And that they had read the examiner had indicated that the four dwelling units were only originally at the second, third and fourth floors, as you can see here on the original notice of refusal.
And I had him correct that. So it included the fifth floor as well, which that is part of the application.
And that's what was posted at the property. As indicated, we we did meet with Northern Liberties and we have a letter of support from them dated December 4th.
The 14303 notice is at tab 21 of our exhibit book.
You can see here's the email from the Planning Commission designated Northern Liberties Neighbors Association as a coordinating RCO for the project.
The list of addresses at 21B, copy of our 14303 notice that went out, and the certificate of first class mailing.
uh real quickly uh at tab six you have a rendering of what is what will what the proposed structure
will look like um it blends in very nicely with the other structures that are to either side of
us as well as other recent development including a large -scale development on the southwest corner
of second and poplar directly across the street from us but other buildings that uh have also
been constructed or exists on that North 2nd Street corridor above Spring Garden Street in
the Northern Liberty section of Philadelphia. Here are colored elevations that dictate and show
the materials that we're going to be using and the different floor levels, the height of the
building. CMX 2 .5 permits, as you know, a 55 -foot tall building. We're showing a building that's
slightly below that, 53 feet, five inches, I believe, with a maximum height of 55 feet.
So I think it's clear that my clients, although we need more occupied area because of the odd
configuration of the lot, we're not looking to squeeze out every little last bit of this property.
Again, we are far fewer number of units than what are permitted. The height, we're even
trying to keep it below what's permitted. And we're not taking advantage of any affordable
housing bonuses that would obviously increase the height in additional seven feet and provide us up
to an additional 50 % of units. We do have shadow studies at tab nine, as we often do when we're
looking at dimensional variances. And what the shadow studies would show you, would do show you
if you were to study them, is that the shadowing that are the additional...
is that the shadowing that the additional depth or the lack of open area creates doesn't have any
additional impact on the surrounding properties from what would be permitted as a matter of rate
and far less than what would be permitted with bonuses that are available for this property.
um quick quickly in aerial aerial images of showing our property um the development this
the development on the southwest corner again the very large development is is further along
than what's shown here but you can see again the property to the north of us above us in
the aerial image and then to the left and west of us in the aerial image those that exist there
right now and then a tag 12 existing photos that i took showing the surrounding structures
and here you see that large -scale development going off directly across the street and similarly
zoned property and i have the zoning archives for both the budding properties and some of these
other large larger new development properties or projects that have gone in to this corridor
since properties were remapped to 2 .5.
So in conclusion, real quickly,
tab 17, we weren't able to pull
the tax compliance certificate,
but we do show a zero tax balance.
Here's a copy of the notice for today's hearing
that was posted at the property,
along with a copy of the corrected notice of refusals.
You can see we posted on all the frontages for the property,
both on North 2nd Street and on Poplar Street.
So we feel that given the odd configuration of the lot, given its longstanding vacant use or vacant condition, vacant and no structure existing there, given the lot coverage of the abutting properties, the lack of rear yard for the abutting properties,
The fact that we are providing the rear yard depth, but we are going to be extending to the building, to the wall of a building, directly to the west of us, that we feel that the criteria for the granting of a variance have been satisfied in this case.
And we request that the board grant that per the revised zoning drawings that are included at PAB 2, along with the revised provisor form at 2B.
And that would be one sheet.
And if real quickly I could have Matthew Elson and Ryder Kalick promoted to panelists, I would have them adopt my statements.
I'm sorry, you said Matthew Elson and who else?
Ryder Kalick.
C -K -A -L.
I'm sorry.
It's okay.
Mr. Elson is free to speak.
I'll do Mr. Elson first.
Thank you.
Sir, could you state your name and spell, please, for the court stenographer?
Matthew Elson, E -L -S -O -N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Matt, you're the architect for this project, correct?
Correct.
Correct. And you prepared the drawings or involved in the preparation of the drawings that we have up on the screen right now?
That's correct. And did you hear the statements that I made to the zoning board today?
I did. And are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge?
Yes. And would you adopt them as your own?
I do. Thank you. And then real quickly in terms of for the ownership, if I could have Mr. Caleb promoted.
I don't see a Mr. Caleb.
I have a Jada Ackley and an Eric Carroll with their hands up.
A Daniel.
Oh, here we go.
Caleb, K -A -L -E -C -K.
Correct.
All right, great.
All right, sir, could you please state your name
and spell for the court stenographer?
Ryder, Kallick, R -I -D -E -R -K -A -L -E -C -K.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, Mr. Orfanides.
Good afternoon, Ryder.
Did you hear or please tell the board you're involving with this property in 900 and 2nd Street, LLC?
I am the managing member of the entity that owns the property.
And did you hear the statements that I made to the board today?
I did.
and are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge yes would you adopt them as your own
yes all right so um that concludes uh all right thank you hillary before i take this to the board
all right all right thank you hillary before i take this to the board
there's only one zoning refusal on this the 80 as compared to the 89 am i correct
that is correct mr chair thank you questions from the board no mr chairman no chair
no chair other other comments from our attorney hillary emerson
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, we have Eric Carroll with the hand raised.
I have a lot of time to speak.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon, Mr. Bergman.
My name is Eric Carroll.
I am the attorney. I'm sorry, my Eric Carroll, E -R -I -C -C -A -R -R -O -L -L, attorney ID 205959.
Right. All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I do. Are you representing someone?
I am, Mr. Bregman. My client is Dennis Sigovich, D -E -N -N -I -S -S -I -G -O -V -I -C -H.
Right. Proceed.
He is the Mr. Sigovich is the owner of the adjoining property to the north 906 North
2nd Street.
Am I able to, I don't see an option to show video or do, is that possible?
Can I share my screen?
You can, do we have video capabilities?
Absolutely.
I just have to promote them.
Please promote them.
He's coming back in as a panelist.
Let me just stop my screen share, please.
Okay, thank you.
Do I have the ability to share screen?
We do.
You do.
Okay, thank you.
Our concern with this project relates to the design of the open area.
I'm showing the plans that were provided by Mr. Orphanides zoomed in on the open area in the rear of their project.
To the right, which is to the north, you can see that the plans call for a six -foot privacy fence between the applicant's open space and the courtyard that Mr. Orphanides discussed that essentially abuts all three properties,
My client's property, applicant's property, and the property 209 Poplar Street to the north.
If this project is built and this fence is put in, that will essentially permanently enclose this courtyard area.
And my client will not have any egress to the street from his building.
209 Poplar Street, if you look at the rear, you can see it's the yellow wall in this photo.
There's no door.
So 209 Poplar Street has no access to the courtyard, even though they own a portion of the courtyard that's depicted in this photo and included in this fence.
At the bottom of this photo on 209's property is a drain, which, when it rains, often floods.
209 has to service that drain by going through the front door of my client's property from 2nd Street, out the side door, into the courtyard.
Now, that has worked in the past, but if there's any kind of an emergency or any kind of maintenance requirement that requires larger equipment, there's going to be no way to get either that equipment on into the courtyard or for anybody in an emergency to get out to the street if that fence is built per the plans.
So we would like to see some sort of a gate put in with some sort of an access agreement, whether it's an agreement or an easement along those lines, provide emergency egress and ingress for maintenance purposes.
209 has to be able to service its rear facade.
It has to be able to service the drain.
My client needs to be able to service the courtyard.
The applicant needs to be able to service the side of its wall that goes into the courtyard.
um so that was mr carol can i ask the question did you raise these issues at the rco meetings
yes mr sygovich appeared in person i was not there but they were raised
um they were raised a little differently than that but okay all right proceed mr carl okay
i was there by the way um so that is our concern again it's not necessarily with respect to the
variants but we do object to the design of the open space and we would request the applicant
that a gate be put in to maintain what has been the status quo.
to maintain what has been the status quo. As Mr. Orfanides pointed out, his property,
As Mr. Orfiniti has pointed out, this.
his client's property has been a vacant lot since at least 1976. Mr. Sigovich purchased his property
in 2000. So for the last 23 years, anytime there's been an issue, as I said, either somebody could
just go out the side door or if there was a larger issue, the fence between the properties has taken
on various shapes and sizes. It's always been removable, fixable, scalable. However, once this
property this project is built that's going to change things and it's not in anyone's interest
to have the courtyard that's depicted locked in and unable to either access or or get out from
so i have in my office mr sigovich i would just ask him to adopt my test his my testimony okay
sir could you state your name please and spell for the course stenographer
My name is Dennis Sigevich, D -E -N -N -I -S -S -I -G -O -V -I -C -H.
Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Mr. Sigevich, I'm the owner of 906 North 2nd Street, is that right?
Yes, I am.
I'm sorry. This is the reporter.
Mr. Carroll, we can't hear you, Mr. Carroll.
Sorry.
Mr. Sigevich, you are the owner of 906 North 2nd Street, is that correct?
Okay. And you were in my office when I just testified, is that right?
Yes, I am.
And did I share your concerns accurately and honestly?
Yes, you did.
If you were to testify this morning, would you adopt my testimony as your own?
Absolutely.
Mr. Bergman, may I respond?
Mr. Arfadidis, do you have any questions?
Sure. I don't have any questions, but I'd like to have a make a response if I could.
um the the the points that have been raised by council we had a telephone discussion yesterday
and as i mentioned to him at that time uh are not zoning related or anyway related to
the variance that is being requested uh as you know open area can be located anywhere on the
property um doesn't have to be to the rear we often have that as the location uh where in a
row homes style center city. But even as you can see with Mr. Carroll's client's property,
it's being provided a little bit at the rear and a little bit at the side. I could have it in the
middle. I could have it in the front. I could have it in the corner. I could have it anywhere.
As long as we're meeting the rear yard depth requirement. And as I've included in tab four,
the dimensional requirements for CMX2, which is talk about the rear yard depth being the greater
of nine feet or 10 % of the lot depth. And I have here the original zoning drawings.
where it shows 11 feet, I think it's six inches, is the rear yard depth that we're providing.
So we're providing two feet, six inches more of rear yard depth, and that's required.
So we actually have more area, which Mr. Carroll's talking about, than we're required to have by right.
We can have the additional open area that we're already providing.
It's located someplace else.
And then the additional open area that is required by the zoning code that we're not providing located somewhere else.
So, again, his concern, he has an issue.
His client has an issue with 209.
We're somehow getting pulled into this.
And again, the extent to which we, my client or prior owners have been pulled into this property, have been pulled into it, are only to the extent that they have an area that is open, I would say, not developed with a structure, with fencing around it.
I think as Mr. Carroll stated, nobody, neither his client or the owner of 209 or any of their
agents or representatives have actually crossed our property, my client's property, to deal with
this drain. So we don't even have an adverse possession situation here where they've actually
used our property. It's just that they had the possibility of using it if they needed to.
And the reality is, is that there's still an open area here. They're still fencing to either side to the extent that they would have a right separate and apart from this matter, this proceeding to utilize my client's property with either they being 209 or 90, 209 popular or 906.
They would still have the same ability that they have had all this time. But again, the issues that they raise have nothing, no impact whatsoever on what's before the board today.
and it really relates to we're kind of being pulled into a separate issue involving those
two properties and them resolving or addressing whatever the concerns are between them. This
drain is not located that they're talking about. It's not on our property. The impact is not from
Um, it's the impact is not from our property. Uh, it all has to deal with them. So for those
our property.
reasons, with all due respect to Mr. Carroll and his client, and we did speak to his client
at, uh, at and following the Northern liberties meeting, my client has had conversations with
Mr. Carroll and I believe his client. And, um, and again, I've had a conversation yesterday with
Mr. Carroll about this and shared my thoughts about it. With that being said, my client isn't
at this point in time taking a hard line position on this, on their concerns. He understands he
wants to be a good neighbor and he's willing to, you know, today's outcome is favorable,
is willing to continue discussions for some type of an accommodation by him, by his entity,
the owner of this property, to possibly address the concerns between these two other property
owners. So we're not closing the door on Mr. Carroll's client's concerns, his issues,
and possibly helping them to address it. But there is no obligation to do so in the zoning
context of what we're here for today, or as far as from the facts I've heard and even stated today
to the zoning board legally.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Is there anyone else in the virtual audience?
I see no, excuse me, Chair.
We have Michael Spiker.
Good afternoon, sir.
Could you please state your name
and spell it for the court stenographer?
Excuse me one second.
My name is Michael Spiker.
I'm trying to get my video on here.
yeah i will have to promote him to a panelist in order for him to share his video are you sharing
your video wait for a reason sir um i i could show you some examples of what's happening um
if you'd like to i can explain them as well are you are do you live in error yes do me a favor
state your name and spell for the court stenographer my name is michael spiker m -i -c -h -a -e -l
s -p -i -k -e -r right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth yes mr spiker are you a neighbor yes okay um proceed with your testimony then we'll determine
whether or not you need to show something okay okay i i'm the former owner of 900 and 904 north
second street okay and you sold to this person who owns it now yes okay and um what i've sort of
come to realize that dennis wants from them is something that uh that he he originally blocked
me away from being able to have access to that to that uh drain so okay basically i want to be
able to clean that drain out when i whenever it needs to be cleaned and um he's been preventing
me from doing so but you by building mr spiker let's be clear you no longer own the property
right no i do not right okay mr spiker correct mr spiker you own 209 though correct yes
that's that's the that's the kicker mr chairman okay i got it okay that's where the drain that's
that's landlocked back there so i have i do have access to this drain from my property
but it it's it's basically via a ladder so if it was an absolute emergency and i couldn't get to it
in any other way um i can still access this drain i actually did it earlier just to to make sure
that i could um and so i mean i really just feel like it has nothing to do with the the owners of
900 and 904 north second street it has everything to do with myself and mr sigovich okay thank you
very much for your testimony we appreciate is there anyone else in the virtual virtual audience
i see no hands chair planning commission thank you chair bergman and good afternoon
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission. Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan
recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location. The appellant requests a
dimensional variance from the occupied area requirement in the zoning code. The appellant
proposes approximately 90 % occupied area where 80 % is allowed. According to the Planning Commission
staff's internal policy, this is a minor dimensional variance and is substantially in keeping with the
requirements in the zoning code. So the city planning commission recommends the board grant
post -dimensional variance. Thank you. MI 2023 -004 -601 -900...
MI 2023, 004 -601 -900 -04 North 2nd Street, I vote yes, with provisos.
Per refusal dated 11 -15 -23, revised plans, one page, stamped by ZBA, December 6th, 2023.
Thomas Holloman?
Sorry, Mr. Chair, there was a third proviso on their use registration for vacant commercial space required prior to occupancy.
OK. Use registration. Why don't you say it? Why don't you say it? I'll agree.
Yeah. Use registration for vacant commercial space required prior to occupancy.
That's that's part of our proviso. Thank you. You're welcome.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Nell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shahid, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsels.
Thank you.
That concludes my business.
May be excused.
Thank you.
Yes, sir.
Have a good day.
Number five, MI 2023 -002 -087 -7356, Frankfurt Avenue.
Zen Jin is the attorney.
Letter of non -opposition from the May 4th Civic Association with unenforceable provisos.
The applicant also provided a petition of support from 32 neighbors.
Mr. Jin.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, sir.
Could you state your name, please,
a spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Zen Jin, Z -H -E -N, J -I -N,
1617 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1838,
Philadelphia PA 19103.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify
your client and relationship to this property? Yes, my client is
Great Choice Housing Services LLC. Ms. Winnie Jung will be
representing the company. All right, and our vice chair
has a few questions for you, sir. Good afternoon, counsel. Do you agree to waive the
reading of a refusal and stipulate towards accuracy? I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to
proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing. Yes. Thank you. Please proceed and
share your screen. Thank you. I'm going to share with the board the documentation previously
submitted in support of this application. Can the board see my presentation on the screen?
We can, sir. Thank you. So this is an application with an amended refusal. The original refusal and
amended refusal really makes very little difference when it comes to the actual basis for the refusal.
However, the original application said it was a vacant commercial space on the first floor.
That space has since been occupied by a retail store, essentially an antique shop, which is an accepted use within that district.
However, we are back still with the original refusal item, which is the addition that was built on this property by my client changed the covered space, maximum occupied area from 75 % to 78%.
So there's a 3 % increase in coverage.
So to better understand what had been done here, we do want to point to that Mayfair Civic looked at this application and came out with non -opposition.
The neighbors in general are also in support based on our petition of support.
But what we did for this property, this is a CMX2 property facing Frankfurt Avenue.
The way the property is designed, it is actually a storefront with a second story above single -family residence.
This picture shows the space that we're talking about, the addition.
Essentially, this property has the commercial space in the front and then a rear garage.
What my client did is my client connected the front building to this existing rear garage,
both of which were originally a part of the property when it was purchased.
But this was because they were having problems with people utilizing the open space in between
for various purposes that were pretty detrimental to the owner and to the neighbors,
such as, you know, doing drugs or going back there throwing trash.
The garage itself was broken into multiple times as well.
They built this addition with the help of a Chinese contractor who apparently did not pick up any permits.
License and Inspections noticed that this is the addition.
In fact, the plans show it clearly.
It is a small addition relative to the overall size of what's existing.
relative to the overall size of what's existing.
But the main goal of the addition...
But the main goal of the addition was, again,
to connect the two so that they can walk safely from inside,
from the front building to the back garage.
Mayfair Civic had reviewed this application with us.
They pointed out a few things.
There's a shared alleyway in the back.
They would prefer not to have trash cans blocking that
because vehicles, emergency vehicles need access.
we agreed to, I understand their provisals are not really enforceable by the ZBA. However,
we are still going to agree to those provisals and we'll make the effort to make sure all those
provisals are lived up to. So essentially what we're asking the board for is a small percentage
of additional coverage on the property to increase the safety for the ownership of the property. And
also, in essence, for the neighboring property as well, because they also do not like to
have the open space, and they actually signed the petition in support.
With that, to better understand, the 3 % is about 100 square feet, low over 100 square
feet extra coverage than what is permitted on a 1 ,000 -plus -square -foot lot.
So I'm happy to answer additional questions or redirect to any part of the exhibits that
the board would like to see again. Thank you. Do you want your client to adopt your testimony?
Yes, please. Ms. Jung, J -I -A -N -G, Winnie, should be here. Please raise your hand virtually to be
identified. Ms. Jung, you're able to speak. Please unmute yourself. Hi, could you state your name,
please, and spell for the court stenographer? Sure. Can you hear me? Most certainly. Good.
Thank you. Thank you, Judge. My name is Shin Jiang, X -U -A -N, and last name is J -I -A -N -G. Thank you.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Wendy, did you see my presentation on the screen and also hear my representation to the zoning board?
Can you verify what I have represented to the board is true and correct and adopt my testimony as your own?
Yes, it is true and correct.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David Fecto with the City Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial mixed use zoning at this location.
The proposed dimensional variance from the occupied area standard in the zoning code is within 3 % of what is required.
So under the Planning Commission staff's policy, this is a minor variance in keeping with the spirit and intent of the zoning code.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the proposed dimensional variance from the occupied area provision in the zoning code.
Thank you. MI 2023 -002 -087, 7356 Frankfurt Avenue. I vote yes with proviso per amended refusal dated 9 -22 -23.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell. My vote is yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed. My vote is yes with Proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you. Have a good evening.
Okay. Number eight, MI 2023 -005 -708 -6401 Wayne Avenue. Steve Masters is the attorney. There's a letter of non -opposition from the West Mount Airy neighbors.
and the applicant also provided a petition
and support signed by approximately eight neighbors.
Mr. Masters.
Mr. Masters is coming back in as a panelist.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Masters, you've already been sworn.
Just for the record, could you state your name?
Steve Masters from the law firm of JustLaws.
And could you identify your client,
their relationship to this property?
Yes, my client is a LLC, 6401 Wayne Avenue. Today, I have two representatives of the ownership entity with us to testify, to adopt my testimony and to provide additional testimony. And that will be Jim Cassidy, who is also the architect on the project, and Walter King.
Okay, and our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
Good afternoon, Counselor. Do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do want to go over the refusal just because there was some confusion with multiple appeals on the case, but we do not contest the accuracy of the refusal.
I do want to go over the refusal just because there was some...
Understood. Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Yes, we have. And we also sent in a corrected version of the exhibit binders that was separated by the two applications that were originally put in for this appeal.
Thanks, counsel. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you. All right.
Good afternoon again, members of the board. Let's see. Get my screen to work better here.
All right. We are here on 6401 Wayne Avenue. This is the main building on this lot. And then we also have a carriage house, which is next to the main building.
The main structure on the lot was converted into a school for emotionally disturbed children back in 1966, and it has not been used as a single -family residence for at least 60 years.
We contend that an unnecessary hardship exists here because the premises as built and as existing cannot be converted into a permitted use without demolition and extensive reconstruction.
We cited several cases for that in our application for appeal. In addition, as we'll show you, the lot is surrounded mostly by large multifamily apartment buildings. And so the surrounding area has dissimilar and disharmonious uses to a single family home.
And finally, we have some refusals dealing with the off -street parking. We're providing eight off -street parking spaces. There were originally four at the property, but because of the size and the location of where the driveway is on the lot, we can't accommodate the van accessible parking.
And one of those eight off -street parking spaces goes into the front side, the front yard, the front setback.
And so for those reasons, the physical nature of the lot prevents us from being able to comply with those parts of the code.
I'm going to start with our refusals.
So, as I mentioned in the beginning of my comments, there was some kind of a miscommunication
between our expediter and LNI, and we were asked to submit this project in two applications as
opposed to one. We have withdrawn that first application because this second application
that we have the refusal in front of us is essentially all of the refusals that are proper
here. So we have a refusal for the construction. We're adding to the carriage house, creating a
dormer so that it can be converted into livable space for one of the units. And we have a refusal
for extending a non -conforming structure that's, it's basically right on the property line. So
it's too close. It's too much into the rear yard. We have a refusal for two primary structures.
We have, of course, this was a school. This was never, it hasn't been a single family home for
over 60 years, but the carriage house would be a second primary structure for that one
apartment. And then seven apartments will be in the main building. We also have some refusals
on the parking that I mentioned earlier, and those are because we're putting in all eight
parking spaces that are required for the eight units, but they're just encroaching on the
front setback and we can't create a van accessible spot because it's too close to the property
boundary. And then the multifamily use is a refusal because this property, despite its historic use
as a school, is still zoned single -family. These are our petitions. You'll see that
two of them, 361 West Johnson, is literally the adjoining property on the east side of our
the east side of our project. And we also have a signature from the Wayne Avenue Realty Partners,
of our project, and we also have
which is the adjoining property on the north side of the project. And Mr. King will be
testifying a little bit more about those signatures. This is our letter of non -opposition
from westmanary neighbors uh it wasn't an extremely well attended meeting but uh there
was one neighbor from somewhat from somewhat far a farther distance there was no near neighbors
we do have those near neighbor uh signatures on the petition but most of the attendees at the
meeting were either in support or not opposed um or abstained there was only one um opposed who was
as a neighbor and one vote in opposition from the RCO itself.
I'm going to ask for Jim Cassidy to be recognized and promoted.
I'd like him to walk through the plans with me at this point.
Jim Cassidy has been allowed to speak.
Please unmute.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell it, please, for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Jim Cassidy.
It's J -I -M -C -A -S -S -I -D -Y.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, counsel.
Good afternoon, Jim.
So would you like to start with this presentation here?
Yeah, I think so.
Okay. First, can you just tell the board where you're employed and what your background is?
I'm an architect and I'm the owner of C2 Architecture. We've been practicing architecture
in Philadelphia for over 15 years. And would it be fair to say that this project is to preserve
a historic, not necessarily designated historic, but a legacy historic property in the neighborhood?
Yeah, I also live in this section of Germantown, Mount Airy, and this is typical for these
oversized homes that are 7 ,000, 8 ,000 square feet that just don't make sense for modern
living and they end up being apartments. And often they're long stay. I live next door to one
building like this. All right. So what we're looking at here, Jim, is this is the main building
and the carriage house. Could you tell the board what the dimensions are of those two structures?
uh no because they're not listed on the plan right now okay should i scoot over to a different
i think if we get into the uh here we get into the square footages
okay all right so we'll we'll we'll pause on that question um
this view is an existing view of the property?
It is.
And this is the proposed changes to the property?
Correct. And here you can see the setback line going through the carriage house,
um necessitating that variance and then because this building sits on a corner we have two front
yard setbacks so you can see how parking spaces one and half of parking space two
are on the wrong side of that setback if it was a side yard setback they would have fit so
and how many parking spaces were required by the code
one per one per unit right which would be eight yes okay
go to now we're going to be looking at some of the floor plans yeah go to the first floor plan
this is all right first floor yeah so there
Seven units in the building. There are two on the first floor with a common space.
You can see unit two is in the pinkish color. It's about 800 square feet.
You can see unit two is in the pinkish color. It's about 800 square feet. It's a one -bedroom
unit. You know, you're keeping all the old fireplaces and details to maintain the integrity
of the house. And then you have unit one, which is roughly 680 square feet.
is there there is a basement um view but uh there's no dwellings that are uh there's no
residential uses in the basement is that correct no the two units do have access to the basement
that's going to be to service utilities okay
all right now we're going to proceed to the second floor
yeah so there's three units on the second floor um unit four is in orange it's again 800 square
feet uh it's a one but they're all one bedrooms unit five is in yellow that's roughly 670 square
feet again a one bedroom and then unit three this is the smallest unit and it's around 535
five square feet. Okay. Also one bedroom.
And these are existing views of those spaces? Yes.
All right. I think now we're coming up to the third floor. Yeah. And third floor just has
two apartments on that floor. Unit six is about 670 square feet. Unit seven is 700 square feet.
And then this is the carriage house layout, and on the second floor you can see the roof
is somewhat steep pitched, so the dormers are necessary to be able to have a bathroom
and bedroom that you can stand up in there.
You can see in the picture that the roof there.
In view B?
Mm -hmm.
for the photos can you just um guide us as we as we look at these photos as to where we are
in the structure sure this is the common stair that's going to be uh remain um as this that
means egress throughout the building another view from the third floor looking down
this is the outside staircase that was necessary for the school egress it will remain
although not necessary for it to be an egress component for the new use
the existing carriage house.
That's the side elevation.
That's the rear elevation.
That's the corner of Wayne and Johnson looking at the building.
These are the first floor photos.
You can see the existing fireplaces, finishes.
the previous owner tried to do some renovation there's some remnants of that in these photos okay
and then there's the front
and the the front will be restored cleaned painted
again first floor photos
this is their landing this is one of the you know that's that's not going to be
grooming so first floor photo and first floor details third floor
Is your third floor photos
The second floor photo is here.
And second floor photos here
Thank you.
That's the common space photo here on the first floor.
That's going to remain common space for the building.
So does that mean that all the residents will have access to that?
Yes, it will be common.
okay now i'm going to show you an aerial view for context of this property with its neighbors
um so here we have the eight units in in your property here um can you describe to the board
what what we're seeing to the left uh of of the screen here yeah to the left is a building of
similar size and scale to 6401 wing and it's also a seven unit building and that building has
access through 6401 wing through our parking area back there and it is driveway access
we will maintain that access to be good neighbors okay and then we have it looks like one single
family house next to that uh two next to it and then there's a three plus units
uh to the on the end of that block
these um the 361 west johnson that's what we saw in the in the petition signatures right
i i don't recall but i could be right across the street from your property
uh it looks like it's 13 condos and 50 apartments
i believe so i believe 50 is in the new building to the to the uh right there okay and the old
building has 13 okay and then to round it out there's fairmont park um on the west side and
and a school. Yep.
And this
view shows
the parking areas? Correct.
And you said that you're providing
driveway access to this other
seven apartment
building. Does that go somewhere
this way?
Yeah, the tree
is blocking it in the
all right um we have our zoning poster uh
jim i think i am i'm completed with my with my questions for you did you have anything that you
wanted to add about the architectural aspects of the project no just just that this use is
consistent with the neighborhood and it's a great way to preserve a building like this great all
right i wanted to call um walt king next steve is he your owner is he a client yeah okay thank you
walt king has been allowed to speak sir could you please state your name and spell for the
court stenographer. Hi, everyone. My name is Walter King, W -A -L -T -E -R, last name King, K -I -N -G.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Please proceed, Mr. Masters. Sure. Can Mr. King be promoted to video?
Sure. I'm promoting him to panelist now.
mr king proceed mr masters great thank you um uh walter i wanted to um ask you a few questions
to understand um how you how you developed the the the design and the and the the concept for
this project sure um so can you can you share with the board why you chose to make this project
multi -family and instead of single family um yeah just some notes before i get started uh like jim
i'm also a neighbor um i've grew up a few blocks from here and all you know our development work
is in is in this neighborhood really focused on you know restoring old properties uh you know to
you know have been vacant for years to exist you know to new uses that kind of
so the reason we chose to do multi -family here is just it's just a pure economic decision as
to do multifamily here is just be just a pure economic decision as uh i think as jim my partner
i think as jim
mentioned this is almost a seven thousand almost eight thousand square feet with the carriage house
um with you know renovation costs that's you know over a million dollars of renovation
in order to preserve the building uh zoning really allows us to you know the economics to work
for us to rent such a renovate sprinkler kind of bring all the systems up to up to code um
And then we have, you know, really activate a corner that has been vacant.
You know, I think the school moved out almost at least a decade ago, as far as I can tell.
So it's been, you know, vacant for over 10 years.
So really to activate an important corner in the kind of the Mount Airy Germantown section of Philadelphia.
Thank you.
Why did you choose to put one of the units in the carriage house?
Again, for really two reasons.
The first reason to get to preserve what we find is a pretty architecturally interesting unit.
We want to, if there's a unit in there, again, it's going to get renovated in all of, you know, all the systems be brought up to code.
And also, again, helps the overall economics of the project where, you know, we have the ability to invest in the entire project and make the numbers work to renovate.
um so you're proposing eight units in a combination seven in the main building one in
the carriage house is that um is that the minimum number that you feel is is necessary in order to
make this project work yeah we the minimum number and and also you know again without squeezing the
units i think the average unit size is a little over 700 square feet across all eight units
which is a little oversized for one bedrooms so again we're not trying to squeeze the maximum
number of units in this as jim mentioned you know we're looking for long -term uh you know
tenants in this space that's really who rents in this neighborhood which is a um you know that's
for our other apartment buildings that's that's who we find as tenants um so we want to have
long -term tenants and have you know very livable uh you know kind of gracious one bedrooms
um so am i correct that you went around the to the neighbors with the petition and spoke to them
i did and yeah i've got all i didn't speak to anyone who was opposed um i did it under
you know two weekends of saturdays speaking to near neighbors um and yeah so i everyone on that
list i i spoke to directly uh you know again most most folks are excited um to have you know again
a vacant property in their neighborhood be renovated with neighborhood developers so most
most folks in uh in that little neck of the woods know jim and i as uh as good stewards and good
developers so um walter you heard my testimony earlier today um is it in your opinion true and
correct and would you adopt it as your own i would all right thank you um i have no further uh
witnesses or questions. Mr. Masters, before I go to the board, how long has the property been
vacant since the school closed? We believe it's well more than a decade. Okay. Thank you.
Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No, Chair. No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair, we have Charles Richardson.
Hi, Mr. Richardson.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
How are you?
Afternoon, rather.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court sonographer, please?
Charles Richardson, R -I -C -H -A -R -D -S -O -N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 508 City Hall.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Councilwoman has no opposition to granting the variance.
Thank you for taking the time to give us a call.
Is there anyone else in the first audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David DeFecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single -family zoning at this location.
The appellant proposes to rehabilitate a former group home.
planning commission staff views the proposed use as equally or less intensive than the prior group
home use in terms of impacts on near neighbors the refusals for parking and rear yard are
incidental to pcpc's frontage determination and conform with the spirit and intent of the zoning
code so the city planning commission recommends the board grant the proposed use variants for
multifamily use and a residential zoning district the extension of a non -conforming structure in
The extension of a non -conforming structure in the rear yard, the presence of two primary structures, and the associated parking variances.
the rear yard, the presence
Thank you.
MI 2023, 005 -708 -6401 Wayne Avenue, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you counsel thank you so much may i be excused
you can sir thank you number nine mi 2023 004 617 155 west palmer street
uh oleg sokoloff is the attorney um letter of support from south kensington community partners
A letter of non -opposition from Council Member Lozada.
Good afternoon, Chair and members of the board.
Oleg Sokolov here on behalf of the applicant Palmer Places LLC.
You've already been sworn, so our vice chair has just a few questions for you.
Good afternoon, Counselor. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Good afternoon, Mr. Shaheed. Yes, I do. Thank you.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
I have the only change to my exhibit packet is the RCO letter of support,
which was received after the packets were due last week. So that's been added.
Understood. Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
Thank you very much.
One second. I apologize.
All right. Is everybody able to see that?
We can, sir.
Once again, thank you for your time, Chair Bergman, members of the board.
As stated, I'm here on behalf of 155 West Palmer Street.
The reason for the refusal is the erection of a rear addition.
If I can give a little context, my clients purchased this property with the existing condition as it is.
They did no construction to the property.
You'll see from some pictures that I'll show that many of these properties on this block have ostensibly a bump out in the back.
The property was purchased without information as to the fact that this was a non -conforming portion of the structure.
They began to do some renovation work to repair some rotted joists in this back area.
and as work was ongoing, received a violation to then undertake this variance process.
So nothing has been done by the current owners to create this condition,
and they're just here to seek the board's approval to legalize the existing condition.
So you'll see here the properties located in RSA 5,
adjacent to some RM1 properties and near some ICMX properties. Here is a picture of the property.
This property was vacant and abandoned for years. My clients actually live on the block as they'll
testify. So they have been walking by this property. They knew that it was in a deteriorous
condition and purchased it with the intention to, they're newly married, they purchased it with the
intention to renovate and move into this property as it's a little bit bigger and gives them the
opportunity to perhaps start a family in this home. So they began the renovations, and if you'll
see here from the satellite imagery, this is the property we're talking about. Where I'm circling
is the area and bump out in question. You can see that 167, 169, 147, I believe 161 here,
And a number of properties on the opposite side of the block have this similar, I guess it was an extension of the kitchen area originally, but we're not sure how long this condition has been existent, but it's certainly been their way before my clients purchased the property.
Here's the deed to the property. It was purchased in February of this year.
here's the parcel once again some better imagery of the various I'll call them again bump outs but
I'll call them again pump outs, but non -conforming portions of a property that basically impact the rear yard setback requirement.
but none
But as you can see from the other side of the block, it's quite prevalent in this area.
Here are the plans. You can see these are pictures of the existing conditions. So all of these joists,
they were rotten and needed to be repaired. So they have undertaken the repair just for safety
purposes, but have stopped once the violation was received. This here is the area in question.
It does span from the basement to the second floor of this property, and once again, was in this condition when purchased.
Here's our application for appeal.
Our project information.
A meeting was held on November 15th with the South Kensington Community Partners RCO.
And as stated, they have voted to support our project. Here are certificates of mailing to,
I believe, 133 nearby neighbors. Here is our letter.
letter, once again, evidencing SKCP's support of this variance request.
And then as Chair Bergman stated, we have a number of letters of support from nearby
neighbors, photos of the zoning posters at the property.
You can also see that the violation issued has also been in the window since it was issued.
And then lastly,
once again, I was unable to pull a tax clearance certificate from the system. I'm unsure why,
But here is a printout from the tax center showing that all taxes on the property have been paid.
At this time, if I may, ask John Carley to raise his hand to just adopt my testimony.
Mr. Shokalov, can I ask one question?
Do you have a picture of the back of the property?
I do not.
Not directly.
You mean a current picture?
What's the back of it look like?
No, I'm sorry, Chair.
the best picture google images doesn't allow you to take you know can't go from the back
yes okay it only knows the frontage what i can do is try to give you a better idea of
what it looks like from the inside if that helps
that's the back of it there that is the back of it yes okay all right thank you
Jonathan Carley is able to speak sir could you state your name please and spell for the court
stenographer yes my name is Jonathan Carley a -a -r -l -e -y right do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do proceed counsel thank you good
afternoon Mr. Carley good afternoon um you've listened to my presentation here today correct
And you are a member of Palmer Places LLC, correct?
That's correct.
And that consists of just two members, you and your wife, correct?
That's correct.
And would you adopt my testimony as your own?
And is there anything else you would like to add as your testimony for the board to consider?
Nothing further to add.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David Fechter with the City Planning Commission.
Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single -family zoning at this location.
The proposed variance appears to be a documentation of an existing condition.
The property sits within a row of unusually small lots, all approximately 480 square feet.
The City Planning Commission recommends the Board grant their proposed dimensional variance from the required rear yard standard in the zoning code.
Thank you. MI 2023 -004 -617 -155 West Palmer, I vote yes.
155 West Palmer. I vote yes. Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman.
James Snell, my vote is yes. Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes. Thank you, counsel. Thank you very
much. That concludes my business. Thank you. Yes. Number 11, MI 2023 -004 -878 -2042 -52 South 56th
Street. Letter of support from the Southwest Philadelphia District Services.
Leonard Altieri is the attorney.
He's coming back in as a panelist. Thank you.
Good afternoon, counsel. Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. My name is Leonard, L -E -O -N -A -R -D.
Altieri, A -L -T -I -E -R -I, with the law firm of Claire Harrison.
Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
But do you identify your client, the relationship to the property?
Yes, sir. My client is Philadelphia Storage Solution LLC, and they are the owner of the
property located at 2042 -52 South 56th Street.
Our vice chair has just a few questions for you, sir.
good afternoon counsel do you 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 five days in advance of this hearing i did thank you please
proceed and share your screen thank you very much
can you see the screen mr chairman we can all right perfect so as i said my name is leonard
altieri i'm an associate the law firm of claire harrison representing uh the owner of the property
philadelphia storage solution for the property located at 2042 -52 south 56th street the property
is a former factory and is located in the I2 zoning district, which my client has redeveloped
as a storage facility, more specifically extra space storage, which is permitted by the zoning
code. We are here today to seek a variance for the installation of one illuminated wall sign
to extend above the second floor windowsill in connection with that extra space storage.
I have with me today, and I'll call them later, Israel Friedman from Prime Space Capital and
Michelle Forres, who's a senior project manager on behalf of the signed designer.
As I noted, the property is located at 2042 52 South 56th Street. It's a former factory,
which is located right here, basically at the intersection of South 56th Street. And this is
Paschel Ave right here. This is a view of the factory prior to my client taking ownership,
showing it from South 56th Street. Again, here is another view. And then what it looks like today
with the extra space storage facility being constructed.
As noted and as stated in their refusal,
we're seeking a variance for the flat illuminated sign
to extend above the second floor windowsill.
And better visual of that is basically right here with the signage plan.
So we have the second floor windowsill.
We're essentially asking for a variance to go up around 8 to 10 feet
to put in the extra space storage sign right there the applicant seeking this variance for
the installation of the sign the sign itself is consistent with the national brand of extra space
storage with regard to both the color the scheme and the layout the sign as i noted will be
internally illuminated and as part of this application we here's the posting of the zoning
posters. As part of this application, we did meet with the Southwest Philadelphia District Services
RCO, where they voted to give us a letter of support. And then I also have, as further exhibits,
the RCO notice and certificate of service to the different property owners that are part of the
surrounding area. The denial, excuse me, the proposed sign, as I said, is compliant. We're
currently here today seeking a variance to install the compliance sign above that second
floor windowsill. Additionally, the requested relief is the least minimum variance that will
afford relief under the existing I -2 light industrial zoning district. If granted, this
variance will not increase congestion in the neighborhood, injure the appropriate use of
public adjacent properties, or impair adequate supply of light and air to the neighboring
properties. And if granted, this variance will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood,
but nor will it be detrimental to the general welfare.
At this time, Mr. Chairman, if there's no questions for me,
At this time, Mr. Chairman, if there's no questions for me, I'd like to call my client to adopt my testimony.
I'd like to call my client to adopt my...
Do you know what the vote of the board was, counsel?
My understanding is that it was unanimous.
There was no one who, yeah.
Thank you.
So there should be either, it should be either Israel Friedman or Ari Berkelson.
Ari has been allowed to speak.
Perfect.
Hi, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Hi, all.
My name is Ari Beagleisen.
So that's A -R -I.
Beagleisen is B -I -E -G -E -L -E -I -S -E -N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
So. Harry, were you on the call when you heard me go through the testimony? Yes. And if you were, was that testimony true and accurate to your knowledge and belief? Yes. And if you were, if I would have called you and asked you to testify, would you have adopted that as your own? Yes. That's all I have for him, Mr. Chairman.
Okay. Do you want to bring this, your sign person on? I can if there's, I will actually, Michelle Flores. Okay.
hi could you state your name please and spell for the court stenographer sure my name is michelle
forys f -o -r -y -s and i'm with parvin klaus sign company right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed counsel michelle were
you on the call when i went through the testimony i was and was that information true and accurate
it to the best of your ability absolutely and if i was to call you to testify today would you have
adopted it yourself i would yes okay that's all i have mr chairman questions from the board
no mr chairman no chair
questions or comments from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon.
David Vecto with the City Planning Commission.
Chair and board members, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the industrial
to general industrial zoning of this location.
The appellant seeks to place an illuminated wall sign above the second floor windowsill.
The proposed building identification sign will not injure the use of adjacent properties,
and so the city planning commission recommends that the board grant their proposed dimensional
variance thank you mi 2023 004 878 2042 to 52 south 56th street i vote yes thomas holliman i vote yes
james now i vote yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you thank you very much mr chairman
thank you number 15 mi 2023 004 637 2209 catheter street henry clinton is the attorney
a letter of support from the south of south neighbors association
streets department approval received for curb cut
mr clinton is coming in as a panelist mr clinton if i remember correctly you've already
you've been sworn today, but could you just state your name for the record? Sure. Henry Clinton,
H -E -N -R -Y, C -L -I -N -T -O -N. And could you identify your client, the relationship to this property?
Sure. Waybar, W -A -Y -B -A -R, 2209 LLC. And one of the principals of that LLC is on the call with me,
Colin Conway, C -O -L -I -N, Conway, C -O -N -W -A -Y. Our vice chair has just a few questions.
Councilor, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits needed and required to proceed
with this case five days in advance of this hearing?
Please proceed.
Share your screen.
Thank you, Mr. Shahid.
Is that visible, Mr. Chairman?
Yes, sir.
All right.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Again, Henry Clinton on behalf of Waybar 2209 LLC.
I'm going to present this project, which is a renovation of an existing two -story house.
We're going to add a third floor and remove one floor in the rear.
And I'll walk you through the presentation, which contains Exhibits A1 to A10, which I
through 810 which i asked be admitted into the record refusal uh there's three refusals to relate
ask to be admitted into the record.
Refusal, there's
to the same issue which i will address and one concerns parking so this property on catherine
street has a small street behind it called fulton street i'll show you aerial photographs
we propose a parking in the rear of the property it's consistent with some other parking both on
St. Albans and on Catherine Street, so it's not the first rear parking on the block, and I don't
think it will be the last. The second two refusals have to do with the setback. This is a proposal
for a three -story property without the eight -foot setback. My client, as well as I have been before
Sosnam, on numerous occasions concerning building third floors in the neighborhood, and their
preferred uh third floor elevation is a mansert roof so that is what we're proposing and it's in
full line with the community and with the vote and i can go through some of the changes that we've
made to make it compliant with the community's wishes as the chairman related at the outset
we did appear before sasna and they do have a letter of support both from the board as well
as from the community. This is the photograph of Catherine Street. It runs westbound and behind
Catherine Street is a smaller street. It's not an alley. It's not a thoroughfare street, but it's
sufficient enough for a car to go westbound on Fulton Street. The property is four homes off
the corner of 22nd street again just another view of the property from the rear we're going to take
down the the one -story addition in the rear and have a parking space in the rear of the property
this is another aerial view just to show you that there is already parking off of fulton street and
this is saint albin street where my cursor is to the north uh and captain street to the right so
there are other cars that are already parking using Fulton Street as a thoroughfare. This is
the front facade of the building, and you can understand when you see it why we preserved it.
We're going to keep the cornice line. We're going to keep the windows, the arc over the windows.
The pointing is pretty solid. We're going to tidy that up. We're going to restore what was
behind this faux stone. It's more of a marbleized look. We're going to keep that at something that
community group wanted and frankly my client also wanted it too pictures of our posting this is
posting on fulton street there's a door right there now which we're going to eliminate here's
the plans originally submitted these are revised plans and we do have one page revised plans if the
board looks kindly upon this application this is the floor plan it's going to be existing first
floor existing existing second floor existing basement uh the third floor is what we're
proposing to add to the property with a rooftop deck on the far right it's going to be living
room dining room kitchen on the first floor two bedrooms on the second and a master on the third
floor this is the revised plan revised elevation
Again, keeping the facade as is, removing the fake stone that's on the lower part of the building, a mansert roof.
We've changed the slope of the roof as per Sazza's request.
We've changed the type of the roof over the mansert roof.
We've changed the degree that the vertical face of the mansert roof projects.
And we've also detailed the trim around the mansert roof.
This is the rear of the property.
Again, we're out of the third floor, hopefully, parapet wall with a pilot house and rooftop
We have a sliding glass door, which comes down into the yard as a means of egress in
the rear of the property.
To shrink this a little bit, this shows Fulton Street at the top of this depiction.
There will be a new curb cut.
We do have streets approval.
i'll show you that in one of the next slides we have parking area now we have a step down
wooden step off the sliding glass doors to exit the rear of the property
this is streets department approval of the plan that we submitted to them for the curb cut
and for the turning radius i wanted to show the board some more photographs of the front
of the property more importantly Fulton Street this is our property to the left with the the
This is our property to the left with the red color cinder block wall, which will be removed.
red color cinder block wall
Fulton Street is about six feet wide and the sidewalk is about three feet.
So the nine feet gives you ample turning radius to get in and then to back out and proceed to Fulton Street.
Just showing you the bad condition of the property that would be completely renovated.
This back area here, everything will be removed, obviously, for the parking space.
The remaining documents are the application for appeal.
Our tax printout from the Philadelphia Tax Center indicating zero real estate balance.
The zoning map, again, this is all RSA 5.
We're going to continue with the RSA 5 usage.
The deed indicating ownership.
Notice of our mailing, mailed out about 185 pieces of mail.
community group was well attended so in conclusion our presentation is
basically in conformance with what the neighborhood group is suggesting for
any all projects that are adding a third floor we are not altering the
essential character of the neighborhood we're keeping it a single family we are
not changing anything with regard to the use of the Fulton Street. It is used for parking now
for one property on St. Albans, another on Catherine Street. My client has another project
at 2237 Catherine, where the same proposal will be made. We're in harmony with the code.
We're certainly in harmony with the community group, and we're not impacting any adjacent
properties development or their light and air mr chairman uh so with that i would ask my client to
unmute himself mr conway if you could unmute yourself i'd ask you to adopt my testimony and
then henry henry let me ask you this question first i i understand all of them explain the uh
insufficient setback for the roof deck okay so typically when you ask for a third story
on a block where there's two story properties to either side the the code wants the third floor
set back eight feet now i'm not asking about the third floor i'm asking about the roof deck
oh okay i understand yeah yeah i understand that one okay so on the roof deck because there's no
setback there the and the code calls for eight feet the examiner is reading it literally saying
that the third floor should have eight feet back right and we're not we're not having eight feet
back because we don't have the setback we have the typical five feet back which you which is required
on the on a front setback of a facade that's why you're at five foot right right okay all right
thank you mr conway can you unmute yourself yes i could you state your name please and spell for
the court stenographer yes it's colin conway c -o -l -i -n -c -o -n -w -a -y right do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes proceed counsel uh mr conway
were you on the call when i presented your project yes i was if you had the opportunity
to testify would you adopt my testimony as your own and as true and correct i would
Thank you, Mr. Conway. Thank you. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair. Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair. Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair. Planning Commission. Thank you, Chair Bergman, and good afternoon,
david vecto with the city planning commission chairman and board members the comprehensive
plan recommends no change to the residential single -family zoning at this location
the appellant requests dimensional variances to build a third story with a roof deck
both variances are consistent in character with other three -story homes on the 2200 block of
katherine street city planning commission recommends the board grant the dimensional
variances from the roof deck setback and front setbacks provisions in the zoning code
how about the parking was that okay did you talk about that uh oh sorry yeah yes so we're we're
uh supportive okay all right thank you i just wanted to be sure that's okay thank you so mi
2023 004 637 2209 catherine street i vote yes proviso revised plans one page stamp by cba
on December 6th, 2023.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Have a great day.
Right. Number 16, MI -2023 -004 -603, 4934 North 3rd Key Street.
recommendation of support
from the Logan
Civic Association
Sean Ward is the attorney
Mr. Ward is coming back in as a panelist
good afternoon mr chairman mr ward good to see you absolutely could you state your name and
spell please for the court stenographer yeah my name is sean s -h -a -w -n last name ward w -a -r -d
esquire counsel for the applicant logan hope school uh for the subject premises right do you
swear for him to tell the truth told truth nothing but the truth i certainly do our vice chair has
good afternoon counsel do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate towards
accuracy yes i do have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that it's needed
and required to proceed with this case five days in advance of this hearing yes i have
thank you please proceed i see you've shared your screen already thank you very much uh mr chair
members of the board. I've submitted my exhibit packet, typical exhibit packet, which you'll see
on the screen. Pardon me. I represent Logan Hope School, which is the owner of the property and
the applicant for the subject premises at 4934 North 13th Street, calendar number ending in 4603.
This is an application for the erection of a six -foot -high accessory fence.
Logan Hope is a Christian school located at 13th and Ruscom, serving predominantly the Cambodian community in the area.
They seek to erect a six -foot -high ornamental fence at the property, number one, to protect the children, and number two, to prevent further theft and vandalism at the property.
The refusal is for a four -foot maximum height is permitted.
Six -foot is proposed.
The refusal also indicates that it's six -foot -five at the rear, which we disagree with, which I'll address as we move forward.
In any event, we seek dimensional variances today. That is the notice of refusal at A1. A2 is the application of appeal. A3, project information form. A4, copy of the deed. A5, proof of tax clearance. A6, a site plan from the archives. A7 is the elevation plan as filed with the application.
A8 are photographs, including posting, the subject property, an existing fence on the property, street views, aerial views.
A9 is the aforementioned letter of support from Logan Civic.
I believe Charles Richardson may be on the call, and he will address the Councilwoman's concerns or position.
with the right to develop a relevant zoning history at A11.
In the 30s, 40s, 60s, maybe into the 70s and 80s, it was a multifamily dwelling.
The Logan School obtained its first zoning permit in 2001 for the subject school
and after school program and community center.
Another application was filed in 2006, reiterating or confirming that use.
A -12 is the zoning map, and A -13 is the aerial photograph.
With regard to the application, the application was in fact filed by the applicant's contractor, Glenn Wesley.
He indicates in the appeal that the property has been broken into four times, and they are carrying off furniture, grills, and other large items.
The six -foot fence would, you know, help prevent that, in addition to helping protect the young children that play in the outdoor yard.
Again, they referenced that the rear of the property, it was six -foot -six.
However, I would point out. Can you see this photograph? Yes.
However, I would point out, can you see this photo?
OK, this is from the Ruscombe Street side. The white building back here is the subject property.
As you can see, the property is elevated at the rear. And by the time you get behind our building, it's almost six feet high.
I mean, this right here is a garage located at a subject property to the rear.
And I would point out that Logan School, Logan Hope School owns and operates this building, this corner property, this building here, and the one directly to the right on Ruscom Street.
So they basically own the owner operator control of the entire corner.
Getting back to the exhibit packet.
So, again, the yard is raised three feet from the sidewalk at the front and up to maybe six feet at the rear.
So, as such, they believe that the six -foot fence would prevent burglary and further protect the students as they play outside in the area.
We have our project information form.
We have the notice of refusal for the subject property for the subject fence, the two referenced refusals, as previously discussed, attached as a copy of the deed.
Ken McBain and his wife, Anita, are the folks that created and chartered the Logan Hope School.
They did convey the property to Logan Hope in 2003.
Moving on, we have proof of tax compliance.
As you can see, the property is surrounded by a yard on three sides from the front to the rear.
Again, this is the sketch plan submitted with the application.
As you can see, the proposed fence is an aluminum ornamental type fence.
It is not a chain lick nor stockade fence.
It is see -through, however, it does provide the height for both the protection of the students as well as preservation of the quality of, you know, possessions on the property.
The property was posted in accordance with the code.
Here is an angle photo, again, the subject property with the blue roof.
Logan Hope also operates out of the building on the corner.
They are owners of the subject property at 1302 -4 Ruscombe Street.
That was the subject of a zoning variance hearing many years ago that I presented.
And they also have acquired the property next door to that.
Here is a street view.
This is the existing landscape wall with the existing chain link fence on top of it.
We seek to replace that with the ornamental fence, which would add to the aesthetics of the neighborhood.
and provide the security needed for the school.
As you can see, the children do play in the yard.
And again, it would provide that additional security
and peace of mind.
There's some several photos.
This is a street view of North 13th Street.
Another one in the opposite direction,
as you can, again, see the defense in the photographs.
The applicant did meet with Logan Civic by an overwhelming vote of 27 to 1.
They voted to support the application.
And, of course, we have the zoning history attached to the application.
The property is owned RTA residential transitional.
However, the variances are longstanding.
And again, just another aerial view of the subject property.
I do have two representatives on the call from Logan Hope, and I believe Jim Sandoval.
I asked him to click raise his hand at the beginning of my presentation, and if he could be allowed to speak, he will verify it at that.
Jim Sandoval, please unmute yourself.
yes this is jim speaking hi hi sir could you state your name and spell please for court
sonographer yes my name is jim first name jim jim last name sovacool s -o -v -o -c -o -o -l right
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do proceed counsel uh jim you've heard my representation i'm sorry i what what is your
Jim, you've heard my representation. I'm sorry. What is your position with Logan Hope?
position with Logan Hope.
I serve as the head of school.
Okay. And you've heard my representations to the board today?
Yes, I have.
Are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief?
Yes, they are.
And if called to testify, would you adopt them as your own testimony?
Yes, I would.
Thank you very much.
Do you have another witness or is that it, Sean?
No, the other representative would verify and adopt if Jim was on.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Yes, Chair. We have Charles Richardson.
Mr. Richardson, just state your name for the record. You've already been sworn, sir.
Yes, sir. Charles Richardson, R -I -C -H -A -R -D -S -O -N, Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass.
room 508 city hall please proceed sir thank you sir uh councilwoman is not opposed to granting
the variance thank you very much is there anyone else in the virtual audience i see no hands here
planning commission thank you chair bergman and good afternoon david effecto with the city planning
commission chairman and board members the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the
residential two families zoning at this location the appellant requests two variances for fence
height, six feet at the front and rear yard lines, while only four feet are allowed in the RTA
district. The appellant has shown that a public safety issue is leading to the requested variances.
Granting these variances will not injure the use of adjacent properties. The City Planning
Commission recommends that the board grant the proposed dimensional variances. Thank you. MI
July 2023, 004 -603 -4934 North 13th Street, I vote yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Stone, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, counsel.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 2 p .m. case has not been called?
I see no hands, chair.
Okay, we're going to take a five -minute break, come back, and we'll take care of the 330 list.
Thanks, everyone.
Thank you, Chair.
Good afternoon.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing the 330 ZBA hearing.
With me is our Vice Chair, Ismail Shahid.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Our Board Member, Thomas Holloman.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
And our Board Member, James Snell.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Also present is Hillary Emerson, our attorney, and our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Here's our virtual format.
Be advised the proceedings are being recorded.
Video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phil .gov.
For the benefit of our court's doctor, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before a test find.
If you're participating by phone, you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548.
Leave your email and the address to the property in question.
And finally, the question answer box on the screen is not for comments or testimony.
All comments should be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunken.
Let's look at this afternoon's schedule.
Number two, MI 2023, 002 -857 -1720 West Ontario Street.
That case is continued.
Number four, MI 2023, 003 -996 -5400 Valley Street.
That case is continued.
We also have a few cases here with no exhibits.
Number three, MI 2023 -002 -864, 3140 North 24th Street.
No exhibits, first listing.
Leslie Powell's enlisted applicant.
This is the first listing.
Ms. Powell has been allowed to speak, Chair.
Hi, Ms. Powell, could you state your name as spelled, please, for the court stenographer?
It's Mr. Powell.
L -E -S -L -I -E -P -O -W -E -L -L.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
So, Mr. Powell, this is your first list, and we do not have the exhibits.
Yes, and you had the address wrong.
All right, what's the address?
it's 31 30 i thought you said 31 40. right okay i have i if i did i've been
it's 31 30 i thought you said 31 40 right okay i have i if i did i have a mistake it's 31 30
north 24th yes so here's what i think you need to do you need to call the office
and ask them about what you need and how to get it into them and you know we'll your next case
we're going to mark this much peace tribe we're going to go along with it okay yes all right
mr chair this is it is hillary um mr powell what is your what is your relationship to the
the property it's my property okay so you are rcp management group llc yes ma 'am okay so you
will need an attorney to represent you at your zoning hearing because the property is owned in
the name of an entity as opposed to an individual yes ma 'am okay i just want to make sure you were
aware of that requirement the office can assist you well your attorney your attorney should know
exactly what documents you need and how to submit them so but you can also contact the office for
any questions? Yes, ma 'am. All right. Thank you, sir. Number five, MI 2021 -003 -593 -4829
Longshore Avenue. This is the fifth listing. We still do not have exhibits. The attorney is even
use mr hughes excuse me even hughes has been allowed to speak chair hi hi could you state
your name please and spell for the court stenographer uh good afternoon uh good
afternoon sir this is evan hughes on behalf of applicant um evan h u g h e s right do you
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, sir.
So, counsel, this is the fifth listing.
We still do not have the exhibits.
Could you give us an idea of what's going on?
Yes, sir.
I apologize for not getting the required package in.
My clients did make the required postings,
And I did send in copies of the photographs of the postings that were done, the public notices.
I have not been able to get the full package together because I was on a jury trial and also had two Superior Court appeals.
I know that is the fifth listing.
I do sincerely apologize for that inconvenience.
It's my request for one last opportunity to finish up that submission package because
my clients do have, I do believe that they have a good case here and they did start the
process.
I just have not been able to finish it off.
So Mr. Hughes, I understand all that, but on the 10th of May, you requested a continuance
and we still don't have it.
I understand you may be busy, but we're going to move to dismiss this case.
is that is that uh with with prejudice commissioner uh i'm going to say it's
dismissed period okay thank you sir i understand all right understand and by 2021 -003 -593 -4829
longshore avenue i vote to dismiss thomas holloman my vote is to dismiss
james snell my vote is to dismiss ishmael shahi my vote is to dismiss thank you sir
and then we have number one mi 2022 001 056 2223 to 29 north 31st street this case has been
withdrawn. We're going to move to number six. MI 2023 002853 453 to 71 North 5th Street.
Colin Clibon is the attorney. Letter of support from Northern Liberty's Neighbors Association
based on revived plans. Letter of non -opposition from Council Member Squilla.
following clive one you will have to unmute yourself uh uh mr i'm calling clive in that's
c -o -l -l -i -n -c -l -i -b -o -n right um i'm also joined with another hold on hold on hold on hold on do
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Could you identify your client in relationship to this property?
So my client is the owner.
My client is Building Service 32BJ Health Fund associated with the SEIU.
And our vice chair has just a few questions.
Good afternoon, Council. Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Good afternoon, counsel.
Do you agree to weigh the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Yes, I do.
Have you emailed in all the required documents and exhibits that is needed and required?
Yes, we did.
Thank you. Please proceed and share your screen.
All right. So, all right, Mr. Chair, board, can you see what I have currently displayed on the screen?
uh it's coming up now yeah there we all right um hold on yeah it's yeah it's you're you're good
now all right thank you sir um i'd like to start off so we uh we did have a refusal on this this
is a for a fence um at the property our property is an office space it's uh used by um uh members
of the Building Service 32BJ Health Fund associated with the SEIU. There was a request for
a larger fence to deal with some trespassing, to deal with some crime that was coming through the
area. Initially, there was an eight -foot fence that was proposed that consisted of chain -link
fence and some other property. That plan has been significantly revised with feedback from
the Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association. Displayed on the screen currently is the notice
of refusal. Next, we have the application for appeal. We also have the project information form.
With that, my property, sorry, my client is the owner of the property as the building service
32BJ Health Fund. And here is a copy showing our tax compliance. The firm, sorry, the fund had
recently merged, so we were unable to get a straight tax clearance, but here is a copy from
the tax department of our tax compliance status. Here's a copy of the plans as they were submitted
it to L &I. And actually, if I can, excuse me one sec, if I can go ahead and reduce these,
you can see the plan as submitted included the chain link fence and incorporated the
existing short masonry wall at the bottom. Here are actually some pictures of the property as it
exists at the time of submission and essentially as it exists today. Just kind of a view of what
the property looks like. There was an existing fence in the back that was similar, but with
feedback from the Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association, we were able to make some revisions
of the plan in order to make sure that it is better in keeping with the local style.
So we moved from the chain link fence with the topper to a more ornamental style, the removal
of the masonry wall, and the inclusion of some plant material to add to the aesthetics of the
look. From there, we included our proviso plan. And here are some 3D renderings of what the
property would look like after the change. So as you can see, there's been significant movement
after our interactions with the neighborhood association. We displayed our posters and we
also had timestamped our date when those were posted. We do have some frontage. So we wanted
to make sure that we displayed, uh, the postings, uh, along all sides, um, with many different
copies. Um, we held a meeting, uh, with the, um, Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association. We
also sent out the appropriate notices for that meeting. Um, we attended the meeting, we received
feedback, we continued to receive feedback. So as you can see, we had, uh, a significant
communication back and forth with the, uh, Neighborhood Association. It was a very, you
know useful dialogue and we were able to improve the plan um we also um during this process got
pictures just to get a better idea of what the neighborhood association was looking for
we were able to incorporate that into our plan um with that being said um
we moved their meeting so the the letter of support is right here um and of course they
also incorporated the revised plans as well. Mr. Chair, that is what I have to present on this.
My client is being represented by the individual from the organization from 32BJ is Clinton Hunt.
My client is being represented by the individual from the organization.
He is in the room.
OK, sure. Why don't we swear him in?
All right, Clinton. And I see him popped up on the screen.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Clinton Hunt Jr., C -L -I -N -T -O -N, last name H -U -N -T -E.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
All right. Mr. Hunt, what is your position with Building Service 32BJ?
I am the Director of Facilities for the Benefit Fund.
All right. And Mr. Hunt, would you adopt my characterization of our claim as it was stated previously?
Testifying yourself?
um chair bergman uh i uh and panel i i have no further uh all right all right so let's let's
see questions from the board no mr chairman no chair questions from our attorney hillary emerson
not at this time mr chair questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands here planning commission uh ron bednar city planning first name
I'm Ron, R -O -N, last name Bednar, B -E -D -N -N -R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
This property is indicated for community commercial mixed juice on the city plan.
The site was remapped from I -2 to CMX -3 in 2015, consistent with our adopted district recommendation.
the applicant's hardship is not supported with evidence of unique physical circumstances
or condition of the property that would prevent it from being used in conformity with the
code requirements therefore we recommend the request of variance not being ran
thank you MI 2023 002 853 453 to 71 North 5th Street I vote yes
Thomas Holloman with proviso with proviso revised plan one page stamped by ZBA December 6 2023
Thomas Holloman my vote is yes with proviso
James Snell my vote is yes with proviso Ishmael Shahid my vote is yes with proviso
Thank you. Thank you, counsel. Thank you.
Number seven, MI 2023 -002 -865, 5028 North 12th Street.
Peter Elliott is the attorney.
Recommendation support from the Logan Civic Association and a letter of support from Council Member Phillips.
Thank you.
Peter Elliott is coming back in as a panelist.
good afternoon mr elliot good afternoon chair members of the board could you state your name
please and spell for the court stenography my name is peter elliot p -e -t -e -r -e -l -l -i -o -t
right do you swear or further tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do could you identify your client the relationship to this property yes my client
IS 13 HOMES OPPORTUNITY LLC, WHICH IS THE OWNER AND APPLICANT.
OUR VICE CHAIR HAS JUST A FEW QUESTIONS.
GOOD AFTERNOON COUNSEL, DO YOU AGREE TO WAVE THE READING OF THE REFUSAL AND STIPULATE
TO ITS ACCURACY?
HAVE YOU EMAILED IN ALL THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS AND EXHIBITS THAT ARE NEEDED AND REQUIRED TO
PROCEED WITH THIS CASE FIVE DAYS IN ADVANCE OF THIS HEARING?
YES, I DID.
please proceed and share your screen
is the board able to see my screen it's up it's up now sir okay
great okay so this property 5028 north 12th street is located in the logan section of the
city. So I'm just trying to orient you here with a satellite
image. This is exhibit five. And so the blue icon is where the
property is located. And the yellow boxes slightly to the
left, run up and down Broad Street. And the grass towards
the bottom of the image has Roosevelt Boulevard just below
it. So we can go down. So as you can see, this is another map of the same area showing the streets
as opposed to being a satellite image. That's West Roosevelt Boulevard down in the lower right -hand
corner. And the property is located near to the intersection of Lindley and 12th Street.
near to the intersection of Lindley and 12th Street.
So this is the image of a zoning map as the city has currently zoned.
It's in the RSA 3 district. As you can see, it's two blocks off of Broad Street, which has a much greater density along that corridor.
so this is a head -on image of the property it's the yellow one on the left as far as the twin
houses go this next image is looking straight down 12th street southbound again the property
is on the right it's the yellow house and this is looking northbound on 12th street
it's on the left this time it's the yellow house
so uh just by way of general introduction to my client 13 homes opportunity llc
uh the board may remember that we were here on two presentations previously on july 19th
relating to 31 1321 west wing of hawking street and 4645 north north 13th street those were
what we described as part of a scatter site proposal, and this is a continuation of that
scattered site proposal. So 13 Homes Opportunity LLC is a mission -driven LLC that strives to
eliminate societal prejudice and inequities. So they're committed to providing affordable
and workforce housing using high -quality building materials, renewable and sustainable technologies
with an energy -efficient design.
They install energy -efficient appliances,
brand new, in all of the units.
The goal here is to keep local families
in Philadelphia in the neighborhood.
I'll bring Leslie Hollins,
the real estate manager, on shortly,
but she will tell you that the goal
is to keep local families
who are either low -income or single parents
and give them a place to stay.
So they work with services, nonprofits, to keep families in their home.
The nonprofits help to screen.
Mr. Elliott.
It looked like it may be his Internet share.
This is how I noticed.
yeah i think you're right
yeah we have a hand up with kevin greenberg could that be his associate or well kevin
kevin greenberg's an attorney okay all right so what let's let's see maybe it's his associate
okay kevin greenberg you're free to speak yes members of the board hello good afternoon um
thank you for uh peter is my colleague he is down okay just for the record kevin state your name
please and spell for the course greenberg g -r -e -e -n -b -e -r -g right do you swear for him to
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth of course mr chair i'm sure can you pick
up where he was um i cannot because he has this the the display on his screen and not here he has
texted me that his computer has crashed and he is rebooting so if you can hold on for a minute or
We'll hold for a couple of minutes.
Thank you very much, members of the board.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Greenberg, are you still on?
Yes, I am.
I am texting him again to see what's going on.
Yeah, just see if he can't reboot.
If not, we can pick it up.
We will figure out a way to get the presentation back up.
And I can certainly put Ms. Hollins on and have her adopt the testimony because this really is essentially a version of the same program.
have her adopt the testimony, because this really is essentially a version of the same program you
saw. Yeah, we've heard from them before. So I appreciate this. I know we're the last one on a
long day. So. If you want to take a two -minute recess, Your Honor, we will be back up either
from my computer or his by then if you want to if you can he get to you yeah he's i'm going to go
down the hall i just have to figure out how to get oh okay okay all right i have to figure out
how to get to the slideshow is the problem okay all right we're going to wait two minutes all
right you got it i'll be right back okay
Bye -bye.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, he's in the process of re -registering.
He will be right back.
The computer is back online.
All right.
That's great.
Thank you.
Thank you.
he's coming back in as a panelist chair okay
okay peter
i apologize for that no that's okay peter uh so i i think i know where you were here's a question
for you. On that block where you're putting this on 12th Street, are the other homes multiple?
Absolutely. Yes. By our estimation, more than 50 % of those homes are multiple units. They're
not legalized by our review. But there's plenty of parking on that block. I've parked with no
issue every time I've stopped by. And you can tell by the mailboxes and the meters on the
properties that those are multiple units. And the neighbors at the meeting said so as well.
So why don't you bring on the representative?
If Leslie Hollins is here, she can raise her hand and we will.
I'll ask her to unmute herself.
Leslie, please let us know when you are unmuted.
Leslie Hollins is free to speak.
Hi, Leslie, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. Leslie Hollins, L -E -S -L -I -E, Hollins, H -O -L -L -I -N -S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
So, Leslie, first, I'd just like to ask you if you could explain just a little bit more about the 13 Homes Mission on a national level and at the Philadelphia level.
Sure. So our family office does social impact infesting in mainly marginalized and disinfested neighborhoods.
And for the 13 Homes Project, we partnered with social service partners like Mr. Elliott stated, and we take housing that is blighted.
And we take housing that is blighted and return it back to the community.
Great. And so, Leslie, is the goal here to change the property as it is currently existing in terms of its shape or how many units are existing in it?
Right. Okay. And so, Leslie, did you hear all of my statements that I made previously before I got kicked off the system?
And would you agree with those statements?
I agree.
And would you adopt it as your own testimony?
So, members of the board, I can walk you through the exhibits that we have, but we have a letter of support from the community organization.
We have a letter of support from the city council member that came in this morning.
We do.
We have that.
We have Logan Civic and also the council member Phillips.
And so the neighborhood was unanimous.
All right.
So questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Chair.
No, Chair.
Questions or comments from our attorney, Hillary Emerson?
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no handshare.
Planning Commission?
Ron Bednar, City Planning.
Properties indicated for residential use on the city plan,
given the physical circumstances of the site.
We recommend, we have no objection to the granting advance.
Thank you.
MI 2023
002865
5028 North 12th Street
I vote yes
Thomas Holliman
my vote is yes
James Snell
my vote is yes
you have your three votes sir
thank you very much
thank you Mr. Elliott
and tell Mr. Greenberg
thanks too
we appreciate it
I'm sorry about that
thanks again
no no no it's fine
that's fine members of the board thank you for bearing with us we do appreciate it thank you
thank you thank you is there anyone in the virtual audience whose 3 30 case has not been called
i see no hands chair uh thanks everyone we're done for the day thank you bill all right
good night all thank you