I didn't hear it.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and that relationship to the property?
I represent Safar Chutai, C-H-U-G-T-H-I-A, operating as Safar and Faisal Realty LLC,
owner of the subject property, and he is present with the room seated behind me on the screen.
Our Vice Chair has a few questions for you.
Good afternoon. Have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing?
Yes. Preliminary exhibits were submitted 14 days and they were supplemented thereafter
through the CBA executive director and staff. Okay. Thank you. And do you wave the read,
no your refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, I do. All right. Thank you. You can share
your screen and proceed with your case. Okay. Just confirming that my screen is shared?
yes sir thank you very much uh mr chairman i've said to my typical exhibit packet
on behalf of so far true tide doing business as so far and fasil realty uh our calendar number
ending in 7631 for today's hearing a1 is the notice of refusal this was an application for
a permit for visitor accommodations and an existing two-family mason restructure
Visitor accommodation is not permitted in the district, and therefore we seek a use variance today.
As A2, proof of ownership, we have a copy of the deed just for the board's information.
The ground floor is a one-family dwelling, currently occupied with an 11-year-plus tenant.
He's lucky in that aspect to have a long-term tenant like that.
Additionally, that tenant has no plans on going anywhere.
The first and second floors of the property are the area subject for the request for an Airbnb.
They constitute a one-family dwelling.
We have proof of tax clearance at A3.
A4 are photographs of subject property, posting, interior, and some street views.
A4 is the RCA meeting notice together with proof of mailing.
A6 is the RCO letter of non-opposition with provisos for them.
A7 is an email from District Councilman Driscoll's Representative Stan Sawinski,
indicating Council District 6 is not opposed, given non-opposition from Mayfair Civic.
With regard to the zoning history, 1963 was a permit for a one-family in a dental office.
07, there was a permit for a one-family in a real estate office.
And so far, I obtained a variance with my assistance in 2013 for A2 family dwelling.
We also have at A9 some Airbnb history for this property.
A map of the Airbnb locations near the subject, you'll find none.
A11 is the zoning map, and A2 is the aerial photograph.
Briefly, I would just submit that the property had previously been used as an Airbnb without
Briefly, I would just submit that the property had previously been used.
objection or incident in the neighborhood.
Thereafter, there was subsequent regulation changes requiring Airbnbs to have zoning permit
as well as a limited lodging license.
So that's what brings us here today in order to obtain a limited lodging license for Safar
and this subject property.
So briefly, we have the zoning board appeal together with the proof of, I mean, the project information form, a copy of the refusal, my transmittal letter to the board filing the appeal, copy of his deed, as you can see, it was purchased in 2012.
of. We then also have a proof of tax clearance. He's to the plus $250 as a credit. This is the
subject property. It's the unit on the right. To the right of that is Revere Street. This
picture is a Google photo taken from Roosevelt Boulevard. Here's an angle photo. You can see
there is a first ground floor rental unit, and the subject of the application is the first and
second floor. This is an angle photo from Google. Another angle Google from photo. There's two
entries on the side of the building for first and second floor occupancy. The first floor has a
ground level entrance towards the front and also a rear entry at the back of the property.
As you can see by the aerial photograph, this property is located adjacent to the Hub Motel.
That property is on a CMX commercial. It is also located across the street, across the boulevard
from the Roosevelt Inn, two lodging uses or visitor accommodation units, as well as a
large residential apartment complex. Here's a copy of our zoning poster, copy of the refusal,
both of which were posted on the side door of the property in accordance with the rules and
regulations. I would point out the interior. This is the living room, a well-appointed,
well furnished you know not typical of a rental but it's it's hotel quality as you know so far
wants to rent this out as an Airbnb here is a copy of the dining room it comes equipped with
a washer dryer it's got a galley kitchen all new appliances one of three bedrooms the second of
This is the full bath on the first floor.
That's the original bedroom that we showed.
Another bathroom.
The third of the bedrooms. This is a copy of our notice to the
public regarding Mayfair Civics meeting
held on September 21 at 7 o'clock p.m. at the Mayfair Community Center.
This is a copy of the addresses provided by the Planning Commission website.
It contained a copy of the refusal.
This is the certificate of mailing by Lawler Direct for the subject property,
indicating 34 total pieces were mailed at a postage cost of $26.52.
This is the RCO summary letter.
As you can see, one neighbor attended that voted in support without any provisos.
Four opposed the application outright, and a total of 11.
Eight members from a community and three board members voted in favor of a provisos.
So it turned out to be non-opposition with provisos.
Those provisos, we reviewed them.
We agreed a three-year temp would be appropriate in this case.
There was no single night rentals that would be permitted.
Visitor accommodation, Airbnb would be limited to the first and second floor unit only and not applicable to the ground floor.
and that we, as we do now, provide commercial trash service
and all trash is stored in the totes that are located in the rear driveway.
This is a copy of the email from Stan Sawinski at Councilman Driscoll's office
indicating that Council District 6 has no objection
based upon the provisos that we have suggested.
We also have the zoning history, the variance granted for,
This is for the single family and dental office.
And there was also one for the real estate office.
The Airbnb history.
In 2024, Safar was able to rent this sale through Airbnb, and he earned approximately $6,600 in rental.
And then in 2025, it was a better year, he earned approximately $15,896 in Airbnb rentals.
Again, none of those resulted in any complaints or incidents with regard to the community
or the city, for that matter.
This is the zoning map. You can see it is zoned RSA3. Again, across and from the RM1, this is the Roosevelt Hotel.
This is the zoning map.
You can see it is zoned RSA 3.
Again, according to the zoning map, you can see it is zoned RSA 3.
The RM3 is that large multi-rise apartment building, and the CM6-2 is the hub motel, and again, we finalize with the aerial photo.
Again, absent any questions, I would have Sofar verifying and adopt at this point, so he might want to be.
why don't we bring why don't we bring your client on are you
right here again yes
sir could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer
zafar z-a-f-a-r the last name is chukdai c-h-u-g-h-t-a-i do you swear or affirm to tell
truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes counsel thank you uh so far you've heard my
representations of the board today yes are they true and correct to the best of your knowledge
information and belief yes and you adopt them as your own testimony yes thank you questions from
the board yes um did i hear you say this is across from a hotel yeah cheryl uh directly directly if
you're looking at the property from the front from roosevelt boulevard directly to your right is the
hub motel it's an existing long long existing hotel on roosevelt boulevard and diagonally
across the street across roosevelt boulevard directly across the street is an apartment
complex and then to the right of that a little bit north is the roosevelt inn i can go back to the
uh arrow photos if that helps you
there you go so here is the subject cheryl okay here's the hub motel and then tagline across the
street over here this other pink uh icon is the rooseveltian okay uh all right so i guess my
my question was going to be until i was advised by members of the board
why would we need this airbnb if we have all these other options in terms of um well i can i can uh
i can address you the underlying reason why you said it and and that is because um given that
it's a three bedroom uh apartment um it you know it would normally be suited for a family with
young kids however being located right on the roosevelt boulevard uh you know people are
afraid to raise their kids in that house on the boulevard across from a hub hotel and across from
another hotel. So he's had better success with Airbnbs. And as far as that goes, we expressed
to the RCO in our summary, let me hit that real quick, that so far during his Airbnb history,
it was friends and family, including a lot of overseas visitors who come for extended stays.
And believe it or not, he gets, you know, temporary construction workers that might be in town on a job.
They don't want to necessarily stay at what you would define as the hub motel or something similar to that,
where three of them can share lodging for a limited time period while they're working in the city.
And he has not had any weekly, he's had nothing but weekly stays or long weekends historically with his rentals.
He has never rented out for one night stays.
But for the amendments to the zoning code in 2015 and 2018 requiring a zoning permit and curation of the visitor accommodations use and the limited lodging operator's license, he was free from all that until they were passed.
And that's why he's trying to get the zoning permit, get the license, and then he could continue to operate as an Airbnb at this location.
all right and i'll also point out he's got he's got 50-some properties uh in the city of philadelphia
and and around uh that he uh you know provides his own uh um rental business um any other questions
could you tell me uh what was some of the provisos that the uh rcox were yes as as as contained in
their letter of support or letter of non-opposition if i stand corrected it was a three-year temporary
variants to show that we are a good neighbor and we're willing to come back in three years and
request a renewed variance or new variance. There would be no single night accommodations.
It would be a minimum two night stay. It applies to the first and second floor only,
the three bedroom unit. It will not apply to the ground floor unit and that we will provide
commercial trash removal for both units which he does already and you want to do the airbnb on the
on all the whole the whole house the whole property or no just just the first and second
No, just the first and second floor, which is one unit, and then the ground floor is a separate unit, not the subject of this application.
floor which is one unit and then ground floor is a
All right, got you. Thank you.
I have a question about management.
Are you using a property management service or company, or is your client managing the property individually?
Safar manages all his properties through Safar and Faisal, F-A-I-S-A-L Real Estate,
and they are located on Busselton Avenue blocks from this location.
And that's property management, not just ownership?
Okay, and do they have any other visitor accommodation units in the area?
Do you have any? No, this is his only Airbnb location.
Okay, so how are they managing things like cleaning, issues with any potential overnight guests?
So Barr has a staff member of his company, her name is Cindy, as I recall, that once a property is vacated, she would come in and do housekeeping, for lack of a better term.
change the sheets and make the beds, clean the bathrooms,
clean the kitchen, and make sure it's ready to go for the next, you know,
occupant, renter, or, you know, Airbnb person.
That is his employee at Safar and Faisal Realty.
Is that same person going to be the contact if there's anything that the
guest needs while they're staying there?
It's my direct number.
Um, they, they have, they would have so far as direct number for any, uh, needs, uh, while they are staying. In addition, just sort of board knows, uh, so far gave his personal cell phone number to make our civic at the meeting and announced it to the public at that time that he can be contacted directly via mobile phone.
Okay. And then I think that answers all my questions.
question smart attorney um i have a couple questions can you put up that letter from the
rco again certainly and can you send that to us yeah that was uploaded in my final packet uh this
morning but i i believe i emailed a copy of it yeah a copy of it if you can yeah i will re-email
that um okay so here is the here's the summary and then page two of the summary
included, highlighted in yellow on this version, the three-year temp, no single night rent
rentals, visitor accommodations limited to first and second floor unit, not applicable to the
ground floor, and that commercial trash is contracted. And what was the vote again on the
first page? The vote was a total of 11 non-opposition, four opposed outright, and one
support outright okay so eight so it looks like three and eight well total of 11 you had three
of the board members and eight community members so that's 11 plus the one that supported you know
hypothetically 12 in support or non-opposition and four opposed okay and also I know that there
was an issue maybe with posting and you indicated something in an email but we need to put something
on the record either yourself or your client that will attest that the property was posted
for the hearing yeah in my email response i indicated that this is the first listing
i only received one set of posters from the board via email and i sent uh i had file copies of the
poster and the refusal in my folder and i sent to the board copies of this is the only poster i
received and it was for september uh 23rd two o'clock hearing and those two uh items both the
notice of refusal i mean the the the hearing notice and the notice of refusal were promptly
posted on the side door of the property by myself you can see my tape is hanging on the uh the
doorknob um you know as required by the zoning code okay great i just wanted that on the record
i know you put in email but okay yeah no i i verify as an officer of the court that i personally
posted the property myself and took those photos thank you thank you questions or comments from
the brooch of the virtual audience do anybody in the virtual audience oh yes can you hear me yes
okay do you need me to state my name or anything oh sure yeah state your name and spell for the
stenographer sure sadie troop s-a-d-i-e t-r-o-u-p right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth yes are you a neighbor no just happened to be on the call
oh okay so uh um can i can i ask why you you want to testify oh sure i'm just a you know
resident of philadelphia and um i think that i just had a question
resident of philadelphia and um i think that i just had a question and so i you know i care
about what's going on throughout the city generally and i think airbnbs are something that
we're probably seeing an increase in so just was curious about this particular instance okay so
okay thank you very much for okay right calling in we appreciate it sure um anyone else
no chee i see no more hands planning commission
madison matera planning commission staff m-a-d-i-s-o-n-m-a-t-e-r-a
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes please proceed the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa3 single