Yes, Chair.
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
You're muted, Bill.
Mr. Chairman, you're muted.
Is Sloan Folks on?
yes sloan folks is gonna be allowed to speak
hi mr folks how are you sir good afternoon chairman bergman
could you sure could you state your name and spell for the court stenographer
yes sir my name is sloan folks f as in fire o l k s uh also representing the office of
council member ketsi lazada room 316 city hall do you swear for him tell truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth. Yes, sir, I do. And I'll try to be brief because I know it is late.
This property, 430 Westbrook Street, we received a letter from the coordinating RCO. I'm not going
to belabor that because their issues were outlined. There were a number of provisos that
they requested from the developer that we aren't sure whether the ZBA could even
make the developer conform to, they may have been better served, some of them may have been
better served in a community benefits agreement. But there is something I'd like to read
from the letter that we had that they sent. It says a total of 23, not quoted, a total of 23
eligible votes were cast, 20 in favor of granting the variance with the list of proviso and three
against. After the meeting, it says SKCP, South Kensington Community Partnership,
contacted the applicants to convey the three provisos. The applicants indicated they had
concerns with the process and the provisos and would not meet them. While the failure to meet
the provisos means the SKCP will not support the project, a position of opposition is also not in
keeping with the community vote. The letter goes on to say, at the same time, we respect the desire
of near neighbors to see the site developed by the applicant. As a result, SKCP does not take a
position on granting the variance. Now, this variance request, this property development
does fall within the mixed income neighborhood overlay district, which was approved back in
2022. And this overlay district does require that all new developments
of at least 10 dwelling units or 25% residential usage provide affordable income of up to 40%
of the area median income in that area. So while we understand that South Kensington Community
partnership and the group was looking for a higher ami for affordability we do believe that the um
the the project as it sits is going to is by law by code has to provide some affordability
that being said um we're not going to take a position um we would like uh we're not going to
take a position uh our office will continue to discuss um affordability um opportunities
or with this project, with the developer, in hopes of coming to something closer to what the community would like,
but we're not going to stand in the way of what the near residents' desires are.
Mr. Chairman, just to be clear, with all due respect to Mr. Folks, because we had talked about this before,
that requirement that is referenced took effect after a certain date.
and was not in effect at the time that this application was put in um so it's not a requirement
for this project it's a requirement for projects were submitted after the date of its effective
after its effective date and i but i do agree that after the effective date that is the requirement
but this refusal is not incorrect in that respect that it's it doesn't question
this refusal is not incorrect in that respect that it's it doesn't question additional anybody
else in the virtual audience there are no hands chair planning commission
good afternoon chair and members of the board my name is greg baldwin planning commission staff
the comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning to commercial mixed use at this location
whereas allowed um sorry whereas the proposal would exceed height requirements of the proposed
commercial mixed use commercial district um the proposed commercial space would be required under
that district the city planning commission recommends that the board deny the requested
variances for height and unit count but grant the variance for commercial use well well right now
there is no variance for commercial use but i mean i guess if there were to be but because that's not
part of the application right now. We're kind of sticking with
our original proposal. All right. We've had a lot of testimony here.
We're going to take this to the executive session. We'll vote
on it next Tuesday at 2 p.m. And Mr. Chairman
and members of the board, I just want to say I do agree with Mr. Folks. We will continue
to work on the question of affordability because my client is committed to that.
All right. Thank you. And Mr. Chair, I just want to know
the record the record is closed on this case as well as the prior case where we're holding
for executive session discussion all right we're going to take a five minute break uh we'll come
back and we'll get to the three theory list thank you thank you chair okay
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I'm back, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Are we ready to go?
Looks like we're all ready, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
You want to start recording?
Nikki from IT?
The recording is going.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing the ZBA hearing from 3.30.
With me is our vice chair, Ismail Shahid.
He's here.
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 Sunken.
Here's our virtual format. Be advised, the proceedings are being recorded. The video will be available by contacting tanyasunkett at phila.gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you participate by phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 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 and 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 our schedule for this afternoon.
Let's see here.
Number seven.
Number seven, MI 2023-001-428-636 Christian Street. That case is continued. Is there any
other requests for continuance? I see no hands, Chair. Also, number six, this is the first
First listing, MI-2023-001-417-2602 North 30th Street.
We have no exhibits first listing.
We believe there's also an attorney needed.
The listed owner is AEB Holdings LLC.
I have a hand up.
It just says caller and use number three.
Can I allow them to speak?
Please.
Caller in use number three, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Could you state your name and spell it for the court stenographer, please?
Yes, Adrian Hernandez, RCO. My last name is spelled F-E-R-N-A-N-D-E-Z.
Yes, Adrian Hernandez, RCO.
My last name is spelled F-E-R-L.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Do you have information about 2602 North 30th?
We had no information other than the RCO notice. No meeting was scheduled yet.
in this area.
Yeah, I'm waiting to see if the owner's here first.
And then I'll take the appropriate action once I find out where the owner is, because we have no exhibits for this.
Yeah, we don't.
Okay, thank you.
Is AEB Holdings LLC listed, owner or Joseph Patton in the audience?
I don't see them there, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
MI 2023-001-417-2602 North 30th Street.
First listing, no exhibits.
Case is continued.
Mark must be tried.
We're going to go out of order here a minute.
We have a few pro says.
Number eight, MI 2023-004-664-4830 B Street.
Haeyoung Bak is the attorney for the owner.
hey young bop if you're in the audience please raise your hand
mr chair i believe david chandler is the attorney in this matter who is present
okay okay i do see them in the audience i see david chandler um i will promote
Promote David Chandler.
He has been promoted to panelists.
Thank you.
Hi, could you state your name, please, and spell for the court stenographer?
Hello, counsel.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court sonographer?
My name is David Chandler, C-H-A-N-D-L-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do, Mr. Chairman.
We understand that the interpreter that we had for this case is no longer available.
If you think it's appropriate to have that, then we will continue the case and give you a quick turnaround.
We believe we can proceed.
Mr. Castillo does speak English somewhat.
So since I guess I'll be doing most of speaking, we would like to proceed.
All right.
This is a reconsideration here.
Am I correct?
Yes, it is, Mr. Chairman.
There was a previous attorney representing the applicant, but he's no longer with the case, and we took it over in May.
Okay, okay, fine.
Prashid, we have all your documents.
Well, Mr. Chairman, this is the property at 4830 B Street in the Fairhill section of the city, and the owner is Mr. Jesus Castillo.
That's C-A-S-T-I-L-L-O.
and he has owned the property
since 2016
and he would like
he's applying for a variance to
counsel could you share
your screen and put your documents up please
oh sure
are the
oh here it is
share screen
select the window
it's coming up
we see the zoom screen
that's all we see
see our screen sharing
new share
do you have your documents pulled up on the screen uh no i i don't see them
No, I don't see them.
Oh, okay. So you just want to just, I'm going to help you stop share. So just pull your documents up first when you're screening your exhibits that you would like to share.
and once that's open just click that uh share screen button at the bottom of zoom
the green button okay and then it will ask you what documents you would like to share
just click on the uh tab where your documents are
i'm sorry okay it's coming up now it goes to zoom yeah okay
so just try to minimize that screen