So further out view, here's a side of the building showing the entrance to unit A, meters, gas
boilers, water meters, kitchen for apartment A, there's apartment B, kitchen, apartment
c entrance apartment c bathroom bedroom and apartment c kitchen
and as i mentioned uh the tax clearance is coming here's deed and proof of ownership
and i don't believe there's anything else of relevance to to that to that packet so takeaway
uh always been a three unit seeking to re-legalize the use that because of a of a death of an owner
and just my client inheriting it recently
and stepping in to make it legal.
We're hoping that we can reestablish that use
so we can get three renter licenses
and upkeep the property.
Okay, do you want to adopt your testimony?
That's it.
Okay, do you want to adopt your testimony?
I do. Gregory, are you available? Can you raise your virtual hand?
Gregory, are you available?
Can you raise your...
Mr. Finch, please unmute yourself or wait for the chair.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
First name Gregory Finch, G-R-E-G-O-R-Y, last name Finch, F-I-N-C-H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir.
Proceed, counsel.
Good evening, Gregory.
Did you hear my testimony just now about 504 North Pleasant Place?
Do you adopt it as your own?
Nothing further.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chair.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
here we have charles richardson with his hand up okay mr richardson please unmute yourself and
wait for the chair good afternoon mr chair how are you council could you uh please uh identify
yourself charles richardson from the office of councilwoman cindy bass room 508 city hall
right okay do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
I do. Proceed. Councilwoman has no opposition to granting this variance. We are aware that
most of the properties in that vicinity are zoned incorrectly, so we'll be addressing that in the
short term, but there's no opposition to granting this variance. Thank you very much. We appreciate
your call. Anyone else in the virtual audience? Chair, I see no hands. Planning Commission.
sir ron bednar city planning this property is indicated for residential use on a city
city plan given the surrounding use context and documented uh history our district plan
recommended corrected uh zoning to rm1 at this location therefore we recommend the
Requests of variance be granted.
on the line, and he has to go. So please, the board, I'd like to start with Mr. Nardi.
Mr. Nardi.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Mr. Nardi, please unmute yourself.
hi mr nardi could you state your name please and spell for the court reporter
michael nardi n as in nicholas a r d as in donald i right do you swear for him to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do proceed counsel thank you mr nardi i have up on
screen can everyone see this we can the plans for 1935 reed street could you please go through and
explain to the members of the board the dimensions of this project okay so we're the area in question
is the rear yard to be used as a as a parking space the total dimension of the rear yard is
20 feet by 16 feet, eight and a half inches. The required width of a space is eight foot six
inches. That would leave 11 feet six inches for a rear yard, which is more than is required.
now in terms of the size of the space itself is there enough turn ratio based upon the plans
in order for Ms. Lutz to be able to safely enter the area where the proposed parking space
would be yes and do you understand her car to be a jeep compass
yes and do you have the dimensions of that vehicle
The dimensions, as verified, are 14 feet by 6 feet.
And can you describe for the members of the board the other additional curb cuts that
you're familiar with that are on this street?
Well, there are multiple curb cuts on that street, mostly on the opposite side of the property.
And there's one not directly across the street from her, but within 15, 20 feet of her rear yard, going towards Reed Street.
Do you understand that Opal Street does not allow for legal parking?
um i wasn't aware of that in the entire street but um i know there are signs posted where there's
parking is is not legal and the side of the street where the curb cut
for reed street would happen is that on a side where does that affect parking on that side
no parking is on the opposite side of the street okay and with regard to this property are there
any unique features that you can explain to the board about why this parking space is able to
be accommodated at this property? Well, the property is actually situated on a corner. So
at the front of the property faces Reed Street, and the side of the property faces Opal Street.
and so it's unique in the sense that the rear yard is facing opal street that has parking on
one side of the street it's not on the side of this street of this property and the rear the
rear yard length of 20 feet also contributes to the uniqueness of this property excuse me council
Council, are you going to use the rear yard setback for parking?
Mr. Nardi, that's correct. The rear yard setback is...
Right. The rear yard setback right now is 20 feet.
Are you using it for parking?
We'd be using a portion of that for parking.
Well, that's one of your zoning refusals, that you can't use the rear yard for parking.
Right, I understand that, and that's where we're looking for a variance for that condition.
I mean, the other unique situation here is the fact that with parking in her rear yard,
she takes a car that would normally be parked in the street, off the street,
and by doing the curb cut at her rear yard, she's not taking a parking space away.
Has the curb cut been reviewed by the streets department?
curb cut been reviewed by streets department yes and what was their opinion well they approved
they approved uh we do have an approval from the streets department
okay but you're still not supposed to have uh parking in the uh rear yard setback
right well it does it does provide for enough room for a rear yard and parking which is one
of the issues in the zoning code that if if there is any parking in rear setback it has to
retain at least a minimum of a rear yard setback which would be nine feet
you have that yes we have 11 feet six with the allowance of eight foot six
where my arrow is Mr. Nardi is that does that show where right what I'm showing right now is
that 12 foot that 12 foot is is part of the rear yard setback and uh and then the eight feet uh
is uh what was what I showed is allowable for uh the car to make the turn in but it's actually
eight foot six but it still leaves enough for an allowable rear yard of nine feet.
So therefore you have eight feet five which is eight feet six plus nine feet. Well it's actually
eight foot six plus eleven foot six because there's 20 feet in the rear yard. Okay thank you.
And Mr. Nardi while I have you still this is the side view of or the rear view of 1935
Reed Street as you're facing from Opal? Correct. And across from Opal, on Opal, across from the
side of 1935, is this the rear of 1339 South 20th, which shows a similar curb cut with a parking
space? I haven't seen that. That was built since I've been there. So I would have to say if that's
been documented as being the address, then yes. Okay. Are there any other questions for Mr. Nardi
while I have him before I go through some more of the presentation? We're fine. Okay. All right. And
thank you, Mr. Nardi. Okay. For the members of the board, our packet contained the
zoning permit, the application for appeal, which we are seeking a variance because of the hardship
here in this area due to the lack of parking. This variances the lease modification of the
code to provide relief. It will not increase congestion in the public streets. In fact,
as Mr. Nardi stated, it will take away a parking space that would ordinarily be in this difficult
area where we find parking is substantially hard to find in South Philadelphia, as the board is
aware. It will not permanently harm any of the neighbors, nor will it increase congestion in
the public streets or undue burden on the water sewer or other public facilities. It will not
create any environmental damage. The pictures that, oh, here are the deed for the property
showing that she purchased it in 2016. We notify the near neighbors. Here's our proof of mailing.
The zoning notice is posted. The refusal, and this is the front of the property of 1935 Reed
Street. As you can see here on the side, this is Opal Street, which is a one-way street where the
cars are parked on the sidewalk. That's how difficult parking is around here. They're taking
a risk like playing checkers in order to find a spot that's not legal for the most part. This is
the side which I showed during Mr. Nardi's testimony of the area where she would have this
curb cut happened here and this side yard would be open. This is a view looking to the right of
1935 Reed. This is a view looking to the left of 1935 Reed Street, a view looking across from 1935
Reed Street. This is the rear of 1339 South 20th Street which as Mr. Nardi stated he had originally
been out to the property. This has since been a curb cut with a parking space that was here
which is directly across. If you were to see the opposite side, Ms. Lutz's property is right here
at the bottom of the photograph where my arrow is. This is a photo of two curve cuts on 1935,
down the street from 1935 Reed Street on the same side as Ms. Lutz with two garages here. You can
see that the cars are able to enter here. On Saturday, we went out and took photos. This is
On Saturday, we went out and took photos. This is how, again, difficult parking. This car here
how again difficult parking
this car
has a ticket for parking illegally on the sidewalk, and these other cars are doing the same
along this street. Down the street from 1935 Reed, this is townhouses where they've given up
their rear yard in order to have parking in this area. We also found in the area at 1848 South
reed reed street this is a property that has a side yard with a curb cut for parking
and again we found something at 1900 south 19th street this is a side yard with parking
and we already went through the plans at this time i would like to call my client kelly lutz
Kelly, could you state your name and spell it please for the court reporter?
Kelly Lutz, L-U-T-Z, Ms. Lutz, can you please put your virtual hand up?
Ms. Lutz, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, could you state your name and spell it, please, for the court reporter?
Yep. My name is Kelly Lutz, K-E-L-L-Y. Last name is Lutz, L-U-T-Z.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Thank you. Ms. Lutz, have you heard my testimony here today?
Yes. Do you agree with and adopt the testimony that I gave today with regard to your property
at 1935 Reed Street? Yes. Ms. Lutz, what do you do for a living? I'm a registered nurse. And
you are currently, where do you work currently? I work at Jefferson Methodist right on Broad
the street. Okay. And what are your hours? I work at seven in the morning until eight o'clock at
night. And I work in an operating room. So if the surgeries aren't finished by eight o'clock at
night, I may get home even later than that, nine, 10 o'clock at night. And what is parking like
in that area when you are coming home? It's very difficult, especially at night, I would say after,
you know five o'clock it starts to get a lot more um difficult to park there thank you i have
nothing further does the members of the board have any questions questions from the board yes
mr uh chairman go ahead one of the um use refusal says lack of required rear yard death
required is nine feet proposes zero can you explain that um i'm sorry so the plans show
and that's what i don't know why it says zero because you can see here on the plans that it
proposes and mr nardi just testified that it would be at least 11 feet i don't remember his
exact numbers, but you have 12 feet here that would be available. That's not going to be taken
up by the parking space. This is 20 feet across and parking space is going over 8 feet, which
leaves 12 feet. But council, that's 20 feet across, but we're talking about death.
I could be wrong, but I think when you put the car there, they're starting like the car takes
away that nine foot that's what i think the car goes forward 16 so you this part here is 16 feet
i believe eight and a half inches it has here um which is only going forward but you're i'm trying
to i'm misunderstanding your question because it from what i understood from mr i think when i
think when you park a car like that they're saying that car is taking the whole distant thing you
You no longer have a yard when you do that.
So it says rear yard depth, right?
Rear yard depth.
And when you put your car there, they're saying you don't have a yard.
That's why it's here.
That's not the way it's going to.
It's going to look just like the other picture that I showed you across the street.
It's not taking up the whole yard.
It's just this one area, which would be 16 and a half, 16, eight and a half feet by eight feet.
and it leaves the other 12 feet by 16 1⁄2 by 8 feet.
It's not taking up the entire yard.
the entire yard all right lynn thank you uh any other questions from the board
All right, Lynn.
Thank you.
Any other questions?
no mr chairman and mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
chair we have a betty buford miss buford please unmute yourself or wait for the chair
hello hi miss buford could you state your name and spell please for the court reporter
Betty Buford, B-Y, Buford, B-E-A-U-F-O-R-T.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I affirm.
Are you a neighbor?
Yes, I am.
Proceed.
Well, when this was presented to us at our RCO meeting, it was presented by Dennis Lee.
I don't know who this lady is.