Okay, thank you.
And Tanya, you'll wait to give us the go-ahead sign.
Thank you.
Still trying to figure this out.
You're on.
We can hear you.
I know.
Hi, everyone.
And we're live.
Hi, Cherise.
Thank you.
So Carol, once we get started, I'll go through the add-on list.
Do you have a copy of it?
There will be two cases for 930, right?
Right.
The others are for four or for two.
One is an up or down vote and the other is a reconsideration.
Right.
All right.
and then i'll see where you add that additional
piece in your introductory remarks and i'll change mine ready when you are okay thank you
tanya good morning everyone my name is frank de chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of
adjustment i'll be participating in today's hearing along with vice chair miss carol
Martinieri, Board Secretary Confessor Plaza and Board Members Mr. Thomas Holloman and
Mr. James Snell.
Board Administrator Tanya Sunkit and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta are also in attendance.
For those of you who have not yet participated in one of our virtual hearings, I'll go through
some of the basics of what you can expect.
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
me. Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses
identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying. Third, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded and that by participating, you acknowledge your
agreement to be recorded. Fourth, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star 9 and then star 6 to unmute yourself.
I'll repeat, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star 9 and then star 6 to unmute yourself.
Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548
and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue i'll repeat that as well
to enter an appearance statement call google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue with that said we can we can begin but before vice
chair tenere calls our first case we'd like to ask if anyone is requesting a continuance or
withdrawal of an appeal listed for this morning's session please raise your hand at this time
if you wish to request a continuance or withdrawal
here we have sloan folks from city council sloan folks you're gonna meet yourself and speak to a
continuance good morning mr folks good morning cheering to chico zba board um i have two uh
requests for continuance this morning the first is appeal number three nine eight seven seven
the address is two one one east eleanor street um the applicant has not met with the rcl
okay uh i should have sworn you in but okay yes it's my fault my fault well we can start over
again um to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do no need to no need
to go over the rest of that okay calendar number three nine eight seven seven two one one east
Eleanor Street is continued. Next case. And my second for this morning is calendar number 39683-4649
4-6-4-9
Oakland Street. They have not met with the RCO either.
Oakland Street. They have not met with the
RCO either.
Where is
that on this morning's list?
I have it on this morning's list today.
Yes. This is Sharon
Saleta. Can we call to see
if the applicant is here for the last
case so they can speak to the continuance?
Yeah, I'll do that.
You know what? I didn't get
number 10 printed out. Okay. Is the applicant here for 211 East Eleanor Street? If so, please raise your hand.
Caller ended in 085. Are you here for Eleanor Street? You can unmute yourself because your hand is up.
um i have that as number four i'm sorry north street is number four
the other case was number 10 i for some reason it didn't print out
we'll get to that no i i the number is 085 for the phone number
oh okay can you unmute yourself okay we're going to just go forward then cheer no one
okay um and the other case carol what was the number on that please it was an appeal number
39683 4659 oakland street that case is being continued
if anyone uh has any comments regarding that continuance request the applicant please raise
your hand no no okay any other hands up no no other hands are up correct any other requests
for continuance or withdrawals please raise your hand nothing
we good any hands up uh tanya
no no hands okay thank you uh so before we begin um we'll go to the first case uh is uh
MI-2020-000414, 2226 Coral Street, and MI-2020-000444, 2228 Coral Street.
My vote is yes on both.
My vote is yes on both.
Yes to both.
Yes to both.
Yes to both.
thank you and then calendar number 39751 2101 washington avenue my vote is no to reconsideration
my vote is no to reconsideration no to reconsideration no to reconsideration no to
reconsideration um and also i have an announcement uh for anyone uh please do not attempt to testify
in the chat any comments should be directed to the board and did i leave anything out sharon
no that's it thank you thank you all right with that we can begin carol
calendar number mi 2020 000 823 1227 south 46th street
Is there an attorney here on that case?
I believe it might be Mattione he had his hand up.
Mr. Mattione are you here for this case?
yes i am here for this case all righty all right can you put your name and address on the record
please yes michael mattione federal reserve bank building 100 north independence mall suite 5a
northwest philadelphia 19106 do you swear or firm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do and do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
Have you also emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership,
Have you also emailed an exhibit packet with the required documents, proof of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal or referral, photos and plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, everything.
Thank you. You may proceed.
Thank you. I also have witnesses, Jonathan Torrey, Matt Milan, and Meir Badish, and ask if they could be unmuted.
and the chair will swear them in okay um is my screen sharing up yes okay thank you just want
make sure okay um again i am michael mattione and i represent east hilton properties the owner of
this property at 1227 south 46th street and this is a list of the exhibits that we submitted
in advance as required and our list of witnesses as well
First, I'd like to touch on the refusal.
There is one refusal.
This property is in the RSA-5 zoning class, and we are requesting variants to be allowed
to have a difference there.
So that is the only refusal for this case.
What we are proposing is two units for this property, a basement and first floor and then
a second and third floor with a rooftop deck.
This property is a unique property in that it is located among a row of duplexes, and
I will show that in the photographs.
This is the site itself, as you can see it's a vacant lot, and there's a duplex to the
north, and a row of duplexes as well to the south, and that's the property of Aitken
property.
I'd like to show photos to put in context where it is.
This is the subject property.
Here is a duplex and there are four other duplexes with which surround this property.
Everybody around it is a duplex and we propose to build a similar duplex.
Like I said, I just want to show a few more photos so you can understand the context.
The property would be 35 feet high, would tie right in with this property, would line
up with it, match up with it, have a similar height, had steps up to get into it, and have
two units just like these other properties all around it.
We would have a full brick facade, not a brick and vinyl facade.
And when these properties, I'm sorry, when the surrounding properties were built, they
They all did receive arians as well as they were in the R9A at the time, 1997.
As you can see, the entire street is a residential street and it's got a mix of both multifamily
and duplexes but this property itself though is the one surrounded by all duplexes and the
character is duplexes and this is why we are requesting the variance to be allowed to have
duplex built along with this long row of duplexes.
So that is the context of the property.
Again, we're seeking one limited variance to allow the property to be used in conformity
with the surrounding properties.
We believe that the location of the property surrounded by multifamily residential uses
in the middle of the block does create a hardship to this land, a unique hardship.
This is the only vacant lot surrounded by all duplex properties on the block.
And the variance would permit the completion of the row duplexes that presently has this one vacant
lot right in the middle. It will not increase the likelihood of congestion, residential uses, or
It will not increase the likelihood of congestion. Residential uses are called for here. That's what we're proposing.
This variance is the minimum required to permit the use of the structure in conformity with the surrounding structures.
And the structure complies with all of the dimensional requirements, such as area, height, open area, rear yard, etc.
And we are building a lower height than is permitted to allow us to tie in with the neighboring properties.
What I'd like to do next is call on Matthew Millan, if he is on. Matthew?
I'm here, Michael.
Okay. Mr. Chair, do you want to swear him in?
Sir, please identify yourself with the record first and last name. Spell your last name.
Matthew Millan, M-I-L-L-A-N.
Your address?
15 West Highland Avenue, Philadelphia, 19118.
We're infirm to tell the truth, all truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Please proceed.
Mr. Millan, what is your profession?
I'm a registered architect.
And how long have you been an architect?
I've been an architect for 25 years.
And did your firm prepare the plans for the proposed duplex?
We did.
And are these the plans that are on the screen now?
Yes, they are.
And what's the present zoning of the property?
Present zoning is RSA 5.
And did you take that into account when preparing the plans?
Yes, we did.
And why did you prepare plans for duplex?
We reviewed both the base zoning, we reviewed, researched the property on Atlas Philadelphia, reviewed the deed information, and we looked at the pattern of development within the neighborhood.
The vacant lot sits, as you have stated, among a row of existing duplexes, one to the north and four to the south.
There are also a number of additional duplexes on the block.
Given its location in the middle of a row or in a row of duplexes, it felt most appropriate to repeat that pattern and request the use variance.
And did you review whether this property would be appropriate as a single family use?
we did and it was our feeling as well as discussing it with some other professionals
real estate professionals and others that it was not appropriate as a single family
that a duplex that would basically reinforce the pattern of the existing development of
the duplexes would be the most appropriate and having had the opportunity to consider
the proposed development do you have an opinion based upon reasonable professional certainty as
to whether this proposal would be compatible and meet the needs of the community where it is located
yes it it certainly is compatible in terms of the duplex among the five other duplexes
And in terms of its height, the massing, the materials, the brick facade, the raised first floor so that there's a front stoop and steps similar to the properties to the left and right of it, as well as up and down the block.
These are all ways that in both the physical manner, the development of the property fits in appropriately to the scale and use of the neighborhood.
And the residential, the duplex units are also compatible in terms of the character and use of the neighborhood.
And are your foregoing statements based upon your professional opinion as an architect?
Yes, they are.
I have no further questions for Mr. Milan.
I'd like to call on Jonathan Turi.
Hello, Mike, can you hear me?
Yes, sorry.
Okay, sorry about that.
Mr. Chair, could you swear to me?
Sir, please identify yourself for the record first and last name.
Spell your last name.
Jonathan Torrey, last name T-O-R-I.
address 266 south 23rd street philadelphia epa 19103 you swear and affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed and are you a licensed real
estate broker i am and how long have you been a broker i've been a broker for 15 years
i've been a broker for 15 years and are you familiar with this property at 1227 south 46
and are you familiar with this property
yes i am and are you familiar with the areas surrounding the property
yes i am and could you describe that area uh the area is primarily made up of residential properties
um a mix of uh three and two story properties single family and this particular side of the
Street has several multifamily residences. As you get closer to Woodland Avenue, or actually
when you get to Woodland Avenue, there is some small commercial uses, but they're pretty far
down the street. And given the location and zoning of the property, in your professional
opinion, what's the appropriate use of the property? Considering where this particular
parcel is located between other duplexes, a duplex use is the highest and best use for this
property and is this property viable as a single-family residence i do not see it being
viable as a single-family residence considering that is is situated between duplexes to the north
and south and is this property unique on this block due to its location is the only vacant
property surrounded by duplexes um it is it is unique considering it is surrounded by other
duplex properties. That's correct. And did the property owner do anything to create this
situation? No, the other properties were existing prior to his interest in this property. And in
your professional opinion, does the location of the property create an unnecessary hardship
to this property that justifies granting the requested variance? No, I believe it fits in
uniformly with the properties that surround it directly. And if granted, will this variance
holder the essential character of the neighborhood?
Not, not at all.
And if granted, will the variance substantially or permanently impair the appropriate use
or development of adjacent properties?
And will the granting of the variance be detrimental to the public?
No, it will not.
Can the hardship created by this property, the location of the property, and surrounding
uses be cured by granting of a dimensional variance?
I don't see how that's possible, no.
is the variance requested the minimum variance required to develop this property
uh yes and are your foregoing statements based upon your professional opinion as a real estate
broker it is i have no further questions for mr tory i just wanted to briefly call on mayor
Badish, one of the property owners? Yes, hi, can you hear me? Yes, Mr. Badish, please spell your
name, first and last name, and give us your address. Sure, first name is Meir, M-E-I-R,
last name is Badush, B-A-D-U-S-H. My office address is 1744 Federal Street, Philadelphia,
PA-19146.
Thank you.
Affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I affirm.
Please proceed.
Mayor, did you hear my opening statements?
Yes, I did.
And are they true and correct?
Correct, yes.
And do you adopt them as your testimony?
I have no further witnesses or presentation, Mr. Chairman.
Any questions from the board?
no no no anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands thank you planning commission good morning mr chairman and members of the board
David Fecteau, F-E-C-T-E-A-U, with the City Planning Commission.
We're in the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
Yes, sir, I do.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Chairman and members of the board, this property is indicated for single-family residential use in the city's comprehensive plan.
However, we believe that this property will be in character with the surrounding block.
Accordingly, we have no objection to granting this variance.
Thank you.
mi-2020-0008231227 south 46th street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you thank you calendar number mi 2020 00017 128 east wyoming avenue
anyone here for east wyoming avenue 128 east wyoming avenue
ahmed johnny are you here for this case for wyoming avenue
yes i am okay i'm sorry this is sharon saletta before mr ahmed starts um i wanted to say that
we did receive his exhibits and we received a letter of non-opposition from councilwoman
sanchez great mr ahmed or mr johnny give me one minute he has to oh okay
I'm having problems Abby
tanya um could you promote the um gentleman with his hand up i'm mad johnny to a panelist
i'm having a problem promoting okay thank you
you should be promoted now
thank you i'm at you can is this sister
okay you can um share your screen with your exhibits as necessary but you're going to wait
for the chair to swear you in okay you're going to do it
mr johnny can you hear me yes i could hear you ma'am can you put your name and address on the
record. My name is Ahmed Johnny, A-H-M-E-D-J-O-N-N-Y. My address is 217 West
Roosevelt Boulevard, Philadelphia PA 19120. I'm here regarding 128 East
Wyoming Avenue. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the
truth i do do you also uh strike that mr chair you hear me now yes
i had to get off you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
okay please proceed so this is a permit for a four-family dwelling multifamily dwelling
in an existing structure you may proceed
mr johnny do you have any floor plans any photographs of the property yes i do your
Could you please share them with us?
Is it visible?
Barely.
Are you holding them up?
Let me see.
I'm not familiar with the system. Can I ask for assistance by my son?
Yes, absolutely.
Oh, sure.
Thank you so much. Can you share the blueprint that I have on my patients?
It's in the photos?
Yes, it's in the photos.
It's in the photos?
Which photo?
The photo is of the group right here.
I need your help sometime.
Mr. Sherman, can you see it?
Yeah, could you enlarge that?
This is Wyoming, Gavin. You're right in the front right here.
And that turns to the apartment and that's right here is the emergency exit and to the
right of the blueprint. Rotate that it's... Rotate it?
rotate rotate that it's rotate it yeah please because it's
All right, just try to describe it as best as possible, it's a basement plan, I can't
figure it out.
How about, I have the blueprint, the original one posted on the wall, maybe it will be.
That's too difficult.
We can't read that.
How do you rotate the camera?
There you go.
Can you read this one better?
If you enlarge it and bring it up to us,
because it's...
No? No. I have emailed the blueprint.
So I don't know, Mr. Chairman, this is the best of my knowledge.
aaron is there anything in that file that uh is any particular interest for the board
on the plan do you have that plan um i do have the plan i can try to
email you the exhibit packet if you can pull it up
there are photos there's the uh the summary of the rco meeting the rco supports the project
it's all right we're gonna just have to rely on the rco and we'll hear what the
planning commission has to say any board member have any questions no
anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands thank you planning commission good morning david effecto city planning commission
mr chairman and members of the board this property is indicated for residential single
family use on the city's comprehensive plan this appears to be a pre-existing three-unit building
and considering that the councilwoman is not opposed and the rco supports it
We do not believe that adding one more unit will have an adverse impact on the block,
so we are not going to object to this variance.
Thank you very much.
MI-2020-000017, 128 East Wyoming Avenue, my vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
calendar number mi 2020 000 862 1429-31 federal street
Mr. Whelan you've been promoted to panelists you're going to meet your mic and share your
screen as necessary but wait to be sworn in hi Mr. Whelan name and address for the record please
Yes, thank you. Sean Whalen, S-E-A-N, last name W-H-A-L-E-N, Vintage Law, 6 Coulter, C-O-U-L-T-E-R Avenue, Suite 1000, Ardmore, PA-19003.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
And do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, plans,
five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes to
all thank you you may proceed before you begin mr will was this address at this case in front of us
once before uh for 14 for 14 29 to 39 i don't believe so um the former satellite auto repair
shop so that there was uh this is two properties 1429 to 31 federal street which is a long time
vacant lot um i believe that was previously part of a property fronting on north 15th
and has been subdivided there was something in there around that that's why i asked okay
okay um yeah and then the second property is 1433 to 39 federal street i'm sorry 1433 to 39
federal street which my client purchased in february of 2019 is the long time vacant lot
and 1429 to 31 federal street is a uh existing car audio and audio auto body business that is um
now a consolidated property and uh i'll i'll give you the the map here in a second
So Sean Whalen, Vintage Law, here on behalf of the owner, and we have one refusal today,
which is we are proposing 42 dwelling units in a four-story building, 35 dwelling units
are permitted by right.
I am very happy to say, because it doesn't happen often these days, that the RCO was
overwhelmingly in favor.
we got a 13 to 4 vote in our favor by the RCO and what you can see here is the
zoning plan I will skip over unless the board has any questions all of the
required documentation the deeds tax clearance certificate all of that that
was emailed to the board and no need to belabor it now unless the board has
questions so what you see here essentially this longer parcel a deeper
parcel this is federal street uh north 15th would be one property over this is actually the uh mr
whalen we do not see oh i forgot to hit yes okay sorry about that no problem
okay now can you see my screen
yes yes apologize for that there's always one more button and i forget to push it
No problem. No worries. All right, so here's a copy of the refusal as you can see one
refusal listed
Again 42 units are being proposed 35 are by right. Here's a copy of the
RCO's letter
Everyone showing support
Okay, now here's a what the property actually looks like it has this l shape to it
This shorter portion here, boxier side, is currently the long time vacant lot.
This longer portion here is what's improved with the car audio auto body shop that will
be demolished and the two properties are consolidated at this time.
So what you can see, this is just an aerial view showing where we're at.
we are not the corner of Federal and 15th, but we're one property over, and then it goes
all the way back just off of Broad as you head to 15th.
Here's kind of an aerial view showing what's along here, dialysis facility, and a couple of
ear distributors, along with auto repair. It's kind of the state of the commercial market here.
And then here's the zoning map.
So we are zoned CMX2.
We are proposing first floor commercial with the remainder being residential.
I can show you here are some photos of the existing site that were provided.
This one right here shows the vacant use.
Here is the auto body shop next door.
and these other properties are the ones indicative of what's immediately surrounding us.
So again, everything is by right.
We have 14 bike spaces, zero vehicular parking spaces in a four-story building.
Here again is that odd shape that we've got.
odd shape that we've got and just jumping to the variants obviously we have a hardship here it's
and just jumping to the
a large oddly shaped parcel but primarily this neighborhood is changing into one of more
of residential nature and you know while it's zoned cmx2 along with the addition the adjacent
properties the commercial corridor is really in a dilapidated state and really cannot support
any commercial activity. Therefore, the additional density is needed to increase the commercial
demand. And to be honest, if we did not have the additional density, we would be here for
a different variance, which would be asking for purely residential with no commercial on the
first floor. This was actually a key point of the RCO was that they need additional density
in and around this block in this area because the commercial properties are failing in that
neighborhood. This is the least minimum variance test passes it. Again, we need the increased
density to support the commercial space. The layout of the building is in context with the
neighborhood. The height is by right. All open space and dimensional variances are by right.
and these are all one bedrooms and at this time you know I have a owner's rep here that will
testify to this as well the larger units are simply not in demand and so if we were to shrink
the number of units we would be putting in product that just simply isn't in demand in this
area and lastly we obviously a huge benefit to the neighborhood is cleaning up this long-standing
vacant lot and getting rid of this recessed auto use the RCO was was very pleased with both of those
there will be additional lighting for pedestrian walking and our property will go right up to the
to the street street frontage to activate the commercial space and you know this of course
is right off major transit from Broad Street and will not adversely impact the neighborhood
in any way. With that, I would ask to introduce our expert architect, Agata Reister, and
Ori Feibusch as the owner's rep here on behalf of the owner.
um let me ask this before do any questions from the board that we would require uh uh answers
from the architect no no no no we can skip over that unless you need that for your
testimony mr whale and go right to the owner's rep uh i would just have uh the architect then
put her name in and she can adopt my testimony. That'll work, thank you.
Ms. Reister, are you on?
Yes, good morning. Good morning. Ma'am, please identify yourself with a record name and address,
spell your name uh agatha reister landmark architectural design the address is 1325
snyder avenue philadelphia pa 19148 and would you spell your name please for the stenographer
a g a t a last name r e i s t e r thank you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth i do please proceed miss reister you've been introduced as our expert
architect on behalf of this property is that correct that is correct thank you and did you
hear all the testimony i provided already um yes and would you agree that in uh it is true and
correct to the best of your knowledge and opinion uh yes i would and would you adopt it as your own
yes thank you very much miss reister that's all i have thank you
Ms. Sunkit, if you could promote Ori Fybush.
Hey, good morning, Ori Fybush here.
You're on mute, Chairman.
Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Feibusch. Please identify yourself, name and address for the
record. Sure. Ori Feibusch, OCF Realty, 1936 Washington Avenue, Philadelphia, PA.
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed. Thank you.
All right. Mr. Fybush, you're here on behalf of the owners, the owner's rep.
Did you hear all the testimony that I provided so far?
I did, yes.
And is it true and correct to the best of your knowledge and opinion?
It is, yes.
And would you adopt it as your own?
I would, yes.
Thank you. And do you have anything further?
No, I'm just excited as a neighbor to hopefully convert part of what has been a very difficult
and blighted block into something that is more attractive and pedestrian friendly.
Thank you very much.
Of course, if the board has any questions for either Ms. Reister or Mr. Feibusch, I offer
them up to you.
Otherwise, we would rest our case.
Questions from the board?
anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands thank you planning commission good morning David Fechtow City Planning
commission mr chairman and members of the board this property is indicated for residential
multi-family use in the city's comprehensive plan this property was created from a larger
parcel with a plan to erect multi-family town homes in a previous application since then
nothing about the parcel has changed we believe that 42 units is an overuse on a block that has
significant traffic traffic concerns caused by the neighboring medical facility accordingly we
recommend against this variance mi-2020-000862 my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes
calendar number mi 2020 000 805 you're welcome 2137-39 east somerset street
that's the gestion that dog is burping
Everyone for East Somerset.
the attorney is brett feldman thanks sharon
happy i need your help again for some reason it's not working for me no problem who am i unmuting
Brett Feldman. Brett Feldman you are promoted to a panelist. Thank you.
Mr. Feldman can you put your name and address on the record please? Sure.
Sure. Members of the board, Mr. Chairman, City Planning Commission, Brett Feldman, 1835 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103.
And I represent the applicant and property owner, Peter Crawford, something Somerset, LLC.
Okay. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
i do have you emailed your exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance refusal referral
photos plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the rco and
do you have a letter yes we've submitted all the required exhibits uh including the um letter of
support from the somerset neighbors for better living um as well thank you you may proceed
Great. And if I can share my screen?
can everyone see my screen now with the uh exhibit title page
yes yes okay great uh again brett feldman uh i am the attorney on this matter uh you'll see in
front of you the list of exhibits uh one through nine um which i'd ask be incorporated into the
record. This is an application for a five-unit multifamily building, and we have our deed tax
clearance certificate, OPA printout. So let me just get right through this here.
Deed, tax certificate, OPA printout. Probably most important on this, the reason why we attach this
The property is known single-family, but this is a unique property in that it's almost 4,000 square feet, and it's 54 feet on Somerset by 74.
So this is actually almost like a triple-wide lot, which is why we have the application.
Here's the water department printout, which you'll see how large this lot is, 54 by 74.
And as part of the story, which I'll get to, is we're right up against a large PECO substation.
So even though this is zoned residential, almost all around it is industrial or actually heavy industrial scrap metal plants, car lots, a PECO substation.
So here again, this is our lot here.
It's actually these two lots here.
but IRMX, IRMX, Industrial, I2, ICMX, ICMX, and I'll show you these pictures itself.
This was a kind of nice exhibit that our project architects from Alma Architecture, Matthew Huffman, prepared.
Again, showing our property and showing the scrap metal plant, the PICO substation.
This is us right here.
I use car a lot right behind us.
And then the projects that have been approved, as I'll show you, are actually are multifamily around here.
So, again, our property, the PICO substation, the salvage yard, the scrap metal plant,
and these are some large multifamily 140-unit, 60-unit projects that I believe that this board had previously approved.
Here's the car lot right behind us, the substation.
here's the lot itself uh it is a large lot 4 000 square feet 54 by 75 right up against the pico
substation and then as you go in this direction it's a combination of um single family and duplexes
um going going in that direction here and then as you go in this direction this way
you'll see the heavy industrial again here's the property vacant lot
this is the strong letter of support from the community group we met with them twice
we met with the first time they wanted to meet further so we met again and you'll see the strong
expression of support 18 and support for opposed and it was really again here's the rest of the
the tally a positive discussion the main refusal as i mentioned is multi-family in the rsa 5 lot
we have revised plans but let me just get to the let me just get to the plans themselves
as revised this is the property it's a three-story multifamily building two units on the first floor
two units on the second floor one unit on the third floor with three parking spaces
along the side here parking really isn't an issue in this neighborhood but but we thought it made
sense to provide an additional buffer from the PICO substation that is right
here on my cursor. Here's the floor plans. These are good-sized units, 600, 800, 900,
1,000 type square feet. And then I think what probably shows this the best is this
is a photo rendering that we did showing our building in context, which is
similar to all the three-story over here. We designed ours to match up at the two-story here
as far as at the second level, and then the Pico substation here, and this would be our parking
field over here. Let me just show you a couple different directions what this would look like.
Again, that's a good view of what it would look like. Traditional brick along the first two floors
to match in with the two-story here, and then a mansard roof on the third floor set back
to show the distinction.
Again, that's what it looks like, that's what it would look like.
that's what it looks like, that's what it would look like, and we met with the civic
group twice. Here is our community notice and proof of mailing. With that, I'd like
to turn to the property owner, Mr. Crawford, if I may have him unmuted. Peter, are you
available uh yes i'm here brett okay please identify yourself with the net record name and
address spell your name for the stenographer uh yes peter crawford p-e-t-e-r-c-r-a-w-f-o-r-d
at 1639 north hancock street suite 307 philadelphia pa 19122 and you're you swear
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do please proceed
uh and uh peter you're the owner of the property yes my entity something somerset llc is the owner
of the property okay and i talked about uh i just wanted you to to adopt this but um that this
property is unique and that it's 4 000 square feet 54 by 74 um and when you were looking at this
um you came to the conclusion that what made the most sense because of the unique size of the
property because of it being located right up along the pico substation and all the other
industrial uses along there that as a buffer this made sense as as multifamily correct yes that is
correct okay um and you heard you heard the rest of my testimony talking about uh the way it was
designed in order to be sympathetic and kind of a a bookend to the three-story at the other end of
blocks correct yes i did uh and and was that uh testimony that he provided true and accurate
uh yes and do you adopt it as your own i do thank you okay uh we also have a project architect
matthew huffman i don't know if it's necessary for him to um but let me ask the board if anyone
has any questions regarding to regarding the architectural issue any architectural issues
Great.
And I would just say, when we looked at this, you know, if this was a multifamily, it would yield, I think, nine or ten units.
We have five here.
In all the respects, we're fully code compliant.
Significant open area in the rear, well below what the code would require in terms of coverage, open area, and all those items.
So we thought, and the community group, after our two meetings, agreed that this was an appropriate application for this area, for this unique property in the context of the surroundings.
Excuse me, Brett.
Don't forget the minor change in our plan with the bay window.
Correct, correct.
And I did submit to the board, and we do have revised plans.
We had added a bay window at the third floor that we showed the community group, and there
is a revised plan and a change of proviso form that we have that we passed out and we
submitted.
I don't know if mechanics, but we would ask that that be approved as well, and we did
show that to the community group.
Is that just one page?
Correct.
Thank you.
any questions from the board no no no anyone else who wishes to testify in this case please raise
your hand no no hand thank you planning commission good morning city planning commission david
Mr. Chairman and members of the board, this property is indicated for residential single-family use in the city's comprehensive plan.
This is a primarily single-family block with two- and three-story homes.
The zoning maps for this neighborhood changed in 2017 to reflect the neighborhood association's preferences.
At times, those preferences can change, and evidently here they have.
So accordingly, we have no objection to granting this variance.
very much mi-2020-000805 my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
my vote is yes we were just asked that that be as per the revised excuse excuse me yeah i left
that out my mistake i'll do that again mi-2020-000805 my vote is yes with the proviso revised plan
one page approved today yes with proviso yes for proviso yes with proviso
yes with proviso yes for proviso yes with proviso yes with proviso as always thank you for your time
and consideration thank you all the best calendar number mi 2020 000 264 2222 north 17th street
the attorney is Sean Ward he's Mr. Ward let's see okay
Mr. Ward, you've been promoted to panelists. You can share your screen as you need to.
Mr. Chairman, good morning. I had submitted a continuance request on this matter because we
have not yet met with the RCO. I apologize. Okay, so granted, does anyone have any issue
regarding the request for a continuance? If so, please raise your hand.
This is Sharon Svaleta. We did receive the request. I apologize, Sean.
yes i have the request from the um rco as well as from mr ward okay no problem then
mi-2020-000264 2222 north 17th street is continued thank you very much have a great day
we do like you too calendar number mi 2020 000 273 1701 south 24th street
the attorney is isaac slepner
i'm vice chair michael mattione here well hello mr mattione name and address for the record
Yes, Michael Mattione, Federal Reserve Bank Building, 100 North Independence Mall, Suite 5A Northwest, Philadelphia, 19106.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to wait reading the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
have you emailed the entire exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax
compliance refusal referral photos and plans of the property five days in
advance of this hearing and have you met with the RCO and also do you have a
letter yes to all of the above okay great you may proceed thank you and I
would ask that Clifford Lasky the owner of the property be unmuted as well and
the chairman will swear clifford in what are you asking me no i was just asking if cliff was on
oh it needs to raise their hand
Cliff I see you Clifford Lasky here hello everybody good morning
Mr. Lasky please spell your first and last name for the rectus stenographer please
Clifford Lasky, L-A-S-K-Y, Ben Franklin Residences, 1453 Point Breeze Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19146.
Do you confirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, yes.
Thank you. Please proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to confirm that my screen sharing is on.
thank you and this is uh as we said these are the exhibits that we uh submitted and before we
move forward i do want to say we do have a revised plan
form and revised plans and they were submitted and when the documents were submitted
one page this property is the southeast corner 17th sorry 24th and mars 1701 south 24th street
We are seeking two variances, one to allow three residential units where one residential
and one commercial unit is permitted, and the other is to allow a six-foot-high fence
where a four-foot-high fence is permitted.
We met with the RCO, and we got a letter from the RCO.
It's an interesting letter.
the RCO board voted to oppose the project, but the community at large voted to support,
or not oppose, actually to support the project. So the community at large,
The community at large, the nearby neighbors voted to support the project, despite the vote of the RCO board itself to oppose the project.
the nearby neighbors voted to support the project.
With respect to the plans, which I have up now, and let me rotate the view.
The property, like I said, is on the corner property at 24th and Mars.
Originally it was proposed to be 38 feet. As pursuant to the request of the RCO, we have
agreed to reduce the height and we reduced the height to 35 feet and we have rounded the bay
windows. As you can see the bay windows here, we originally had them squared off and we rounded the
bay windows off as requested by the RCO. The rounding of the windows matches up with the
Bay windows that exist on Morris Street. Most of the houses on Morris Street do have bay windows, and we match up with those houses that surround. There is our revised plan form to reduce the height from 38 to 5 feet and around the bay windows, and that's what's reflected in the site plan that I just showed.
Again, here are the floor plans with showing the – oops, I got them upside down, sorry.
okay um showing the bi-level unit in the basement in the first floor a unit on the second floor and
a unit on the third floor with a rooftop deck we do have a rear yard
which has a trash area in it as well for all of the units and that's the fence that we're talking
about along along mar street and the rear of the property there is an alley behind the property
and that's not impacted by this
and there is the rendering showing the facade these bays are rounded as shown in the zoning
site plan and that is a picture of the property itself as you can see is the corner property
long-time vacant lot here. I want to stress that the owner of the property at 1703 South 24th
Street has sent in an affidavit in support. When he testified before the RCO, he said that he's
been tired of constantly having to clean up this lot that is constantly accumulating trash and
debris and it's just a problem so again these are the other corners at 24th and
Morris and they are all commercial with residential above and the RCO as you can
see that is our property and there are the other three corners the RCO and the
nearby neighbors said that there is enough commercial uses at this
intersection they don't have a need for another commercial use and do not want
to have another commercial use which is part of why they are in support of this
project and then these are just some other corner properties showing
multifamily residential these are 24th and mountain street half a block away
so and there's our zoning poster
and this is the rco letter
There's summary, the vote of the board, two to support, five to oppose, and then the vote
of the community, eight to support, and six to oppose.
And this is proviso's, remove the parapet, we'll agree to move the parapet, change the
height to 34. It's 35 feet because, and Cliff can explain why it's 35 and not 34, around the
bay windows. New sidewalk, he agreed. He will agree to a private donation to the Housing Trust Fund,
and he has not agreed to reduce the living space in the basement. He actually agreed to reduce
living space in the basement as well and have more storage down there, and all the units will
be two bedrooms. That's not really a zoning issue. And then I just wanted to point out,
we also had petitions and letters of support from 59 nearby neighbors. This is a list of
and this is a list of all of the addresses of all the neighbors in support and a map that shows the
all of the addresses of all of the neighbors in support.
location of all the people that we were talked to who support the project and just want to point out
this is the the neighbor at 1703 south 24th street george dozier and his uh support um
half a day.
This property meets all of the dimensional requirements of the zoning code, it meets the
height, the open area, the rear yard.
When you look, most of the corner lots in this area have multifamily above and commercial
below.
When we met with the neighbors again, they suggested that there was too much commercial
in this area and, you know, at least sufficient commercial in the area on the other three
corners and requested a residential building here, and the summoning shows that it's intended
to have more than one unit.
In meeting and reviewing, Mr. Lasky can explain why he proposes three units.
The units will be about 1,500 square feet for the first floor and basement unit.
the second floor about 800 square feet, the third floor about 888 square feet.
The roof deck would be usable by all units. And like I said, there is an enclosed trash
area in the rear yard, and it's something for privacy. And again, the demand for commercial
areas and the lack of demand for any commercial areas dictates that this would be a multi-family.
Again, when we met with the RCO, they asked us to reduce the height.
We agreed.
They asked us to run around the bay windows.
We agreed.
They asked if we would make a voluntary contribution to the Housing Trust Fund.
They asked us to build new sidewalks, and we agreed to do all that.
And we have no more than two bedrooms in each unit.
We agreed to that.
This property has been vacant for many years.
As Mr. Dozier said when we met with him, he really would like something built here.
He said there's no demand for commercial uses.
He lives next door.
We've got other neighbors down the street, around the corner, 1704 across the street as well in support.
The situation here was not created by Mr. Lasky.
Granted, the variance will allow development of this property in conformity with other corner properties,
such as the ones at 24th and Mountain, which are multifamily residential.
it will bring additional customers for the surrounding existing commercial uses
and it's in harmony with zoning by creating quality housing
it meets the goal to encourage revitalization
and deteriorate of vacant properties
and it benefits surrounding properties by removing this vacant property
that has always got trash and other debris on it
And it will not alter the character of the community, which is largely a residential community, and as Mr. Lasky will testify, it is the minimum necessary for the property to be developed as three units.
And Cliff?
Cliff?
Hello. Yes.
And you've heard my statements, correct?
Yes. And are they true and correct? Yes, they are. Do you adopt them as your testimony?
Yes, I do. And could you just briefly explain to the board, one, the changes that you made
because of the RCO and how they came about? Sure. Well, the RCO is concerned mostly about
the height. That was their biggest concern. And I told them I will build it as low as I possibly
can. We were trying, everybody was interested in making the front porches and front stoops
match up with our next door neighbor at 1703, Mr. Dozier. His front stoop is four or five
steps up, and we are trying to match ours with his. We're also trying to match the bay
windows. In matching our front stoop, we're going to be rised out of the ground about
four feet uh and the calculation the calculations that i did at our zoning meeting i i did at our
rco meeting i did a quick calculation i thought about 34 feet we removed the parapet walls that's
about as short as as we could make it plus or minus and when i did the calculation with the
architect we came up with a right about 35 feet which is still plus minus 34 feet so i can commit
to making it 35 feet removing the parapet walls which reduces the height by an additional three
and a half feet plus or minus and that's as as low as i can make it three-story building which
is very common in the area and um that's that's what we came up with there for the design
And, um, that's, that's what we came up with there for the design.
All right.
And, uh, did you look at possibly having fewer units in the property?
We did.
It could be a two unit building and still be the same size.
Uh, three units and smaller units are going to be a little bit more moderately, uh, priced.
Uh, there's not a lot of rental, uh, availability for, for smaller, moderately priced rental
units in the area.
We're trying to create that.
And if we did do two units in the building, they'd have the same number of bedrooms, and they'd just be larger square footage units.
You know, at that point, they may be more likely to be sold.
I'd like to keep them as rentals.
As anybody who's familiar with the area, there is a whole bunch of 2,000 square foot plus single family homes in the area available for sale and purchase,
which is wonderful and great, and home ownership in this community is very high.
I do think that specifically this corner, the size of the lot,
I think it lends itself to a small triplex there.
And, you know, with those two moderately priced units on the second and third floor,
I think they'd be a service to the community.
Thank you, Cliff.
I have no further questions and no further testimony, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the board.
no no no we still testify if so please raise your hand
no hands oh wait we have one
the councilman's office uh no no hello hello could you give me a minute please yep
we have a a caller who has again the number 085 if you wish to testify
say your name so you could be a sworn name my name is grace lewis good morning miss lewis
Would you please spell your last name
For the stenographer
L-E-W-I-S
And your address please
Morris Street
We're in a firm
To tell the truth, the whole truth
And nothing but the truth
Thank you, please proceed
Good morning everyone
I have a concern about parking
And the structure
with no architectural background, I actually would like to see it remain
and be built as a two-unit structure.
Because they have access to a balcony that would be commensurate to a backyard,
so I'm asking that they consider making a one-car entry driveway
that opens into a two-car carport and make the yard area smaller.
so that they can alleviate the possibility of overcrowding with parking.
Parking is terrible in this area.
My second concern is I never, ever saw a petition.
I was never, ever asked to sign a petition.
2325 Morris Street is a half a block down the street from the structure you are proposing to build.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, you finish.
I'm sorry.
So, I mean, those are my concerns, and that's my suggestion, of course,
like I preference, no architectural background,
but I'd like to see the yard area smaller so they can build a two-car
carport with a one-car entry driving if you can envision what I am trying
to portray.
so the adding of this structure will only take up one parking space
I know what you're saying I don't think it's I'm not an architect either but I don't think
it's physically possible to do that and I believe you would be taking more than one parking space
because of the radius that would be needed to enter and exit that carport area as for
not getting a petition were you aware of the community meeting and if so did you attend
you have to unmute yourself I muted you
I was aware of the one community meeting that I attended and I was not offered a petition to sign
petition to sign nor was I shown a petition with the neighbors that signed
nor was I shown a petition with the neighbor.
an agreement at that meeting okay thank you is there anyone else who wishes to
testify in this matter please raise your hand so we have a Derek Hicks Mr. Hicks
you cannot be heard because you have an old version of zoom so you can't go
forward um and then we have jonathan jonathan you can now unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in
yep uh jonathan would you please spell your first and last name for the stenographer
my name is jonathan j-o-n-a-t-h-a-n plotkin p-l-o-t-k-i-n your address my address is 1700
south 23rd street philadelphia 19145 thank you please proceed first note i this was um i i did
not hear cliff get sworn in uh so i proposed that his testimony be stricken from the record
i thought i did swear him in my apologies my mistake i will get him back on the record and
swear him in okay uh the second thing that i'd like to bring up is i did circulate a petition
that i submitted on saturday night to the zoning board i did not receive any email confirmation
you received it but it was a petition in which i spoke to the neighbors on morris street and 24th
street who are most affected by the property and uh here say mr chairman uh excuse me i have the
i have the floor now yeah but but but the but the attorney is making a motion and i sustain his
his motion um jonathan you can unmute yourself you will be muted if you don't allow the chair
and the attorney to do their jobs okay you can continue to speak the petition that i circulated
was letting folks know about the exact nature of the property that is the the exact nature of the
development i feel that mr lasky has been uh potentially untruthful in letting people know
that he must develop either commercial or residential and has not informed people of
the exact nature of the residential property that he wishes to develop and i have a petition
with 32 names indicating support of it is hearsay uh you have to speak for yourself sir
fine from my own personal experience walking around the community and talking with dozens
of neighbors there is significant objections here say again sir that's great fine then i will just
move to the second part of my prepared statement um i would like to speak as the committee person
for the community in which this development is proposed our community is tight-knit with strong
bonds to go back decades many of my neighbors are old enough to have been to be my grandparents and
have lived here since well before i was born they have seen the rise and fall of point breeze over
the years and now that we are once again rising they continually feel as if they are being left
out of the process again sorry again i i apologize but you you you're told hearsay let me ask you a
question yeah did you did you attend the rco meeting i did attend the rco meeting and i voted
in opposition not because the community does not want not because the community does not want
residential but because the community does not wish to see such large overgrown residential
and it's hearsay um i apologize but you keep going back to what you have to speak on behalf
of yourself. What I personally would not like to see is a large building such that is being
proposed with three stories that overshadows all neighbors within the property. How long have you
lived at your current address? I've lived at this address for three years but I do not see how that
is relevant to an issue. You don't know what my next question is going to be so how could you say
it's irrelevant what is your next question sir all right uh here we can move on yeah i'm moving
on okay uh anyone else i have cynthia williams ford him you can unmute yourself and wait to
be sworn in. I'm on the phone. Yes. Hello. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes. Please identify yourself
with the record name and address. Yes. Jerome Fordham, 2342 Morris Street. Okay. I'm right
next door to George Dozier okay I'm on Morris Street he's on 24th Street okay
sir relax for a second and get sworn in he's wearing a friend to tell the truth
You're swearing for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
the whole truth and nothing but the truth nothing but the truth
Nothing but the truth.
Thank you.
And thank you, Tanya.
Please proceed.
I oppose this building next door.
The structure is too high.
My family lived here for 50 years.
And I opposed it.
I opposed it when they first sent a petition right.
I opposed it.
My wife opposed it.
and the people on 24th street and you can't say they all oppose it but i speak for myself i oppose
it i spoke but i spoke to george and i spoke to a man named cliff that i don't i don't want this
proposal bill i want to stay commercial it's commercial i want to stay that way with the
business there that's what he is saying that is not true we argue with him and i argue with him
before this happened that i don't appreciate that because they don't have community at heart that
is what that's what i'm saying i don't appreciate that it's just unfair we're being rough shot and
rough ride over and that's ungodly and unfair to the community and it's a long-time residence
all right thank you anyone else to testify in this matter please raise your hand
No, Chair, we can go forward.
All right.
Planning Commission.
Good morning, David Fecto, City Planning Commission.
Mr. Chairman and members of the board, this property is indicated for commercial and residential mixed use on the city's comprehensive plan.
This property is on a block of mostly two-story single-family homes.
However, considering that this proposal is on a corner lot and has the support of near neighbors, we have no objection to granting these variances.
Thank you very much. Mr. Mattione, you're completed, correct?
I am. I am finished, Mr. Chairman.
Is there anything in the file from the Councilman's Office?
There is nothing in the file. I did reach out to them and they did not respond.
Thank you.
With that, I would like to suggest that we hold this for one week, pending any recommendation from the Councilman's Office.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
So MI-2020-000273-1701 South 24th Street being held for executive session a week from today at 9.30 a.m., pending a letter from the councilman's office.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Calendar number MI-2020-000271-1814 Titan Street.
is there anyone here on titan street if so please raise your hand
i have no one
all right um mi-2020-000271 1814 titan street is continued
calendar number mi 2020-000808 3147 clifford street
anyone here for clifford raise your hand
and that's advice chair and chair
okay mi-2020-000808 3147 clifford street is continued
calendar number mi-2020-000282 4625 wayne avenue
if i could chair the vice chair put on the record we did get a request in from solo
for continuous because they haven't heard from the applicant
and if anyone here for that address please raise your hand
4625 wayne avenue yes anyone here anyone must testify no hands no all right so uh mi-2020-000282
Wayne Avenue is continued
Calendar number MI 2020-000281, 5419 Stewart Street.
Calendar
Number MI 2020
Dash 00
Anyone here for Stewart Street?
Raise your hand.
No hands up.
okay mi-2020-000281 5419 stewart street is continued
calendar number mi2020-000251 5732 catherine street
if you're here for catherine street please raise your hand
vice chair and chair no hands up at this time
am i thank you is someone did i hear someone say something no no i just said okay okay
MI-2020-000251-5732 Catherine Street is continued.
Calendar number MI-2020-000266729 Rittner Street.
The attorney listed is N. Jin.
Ms. Abbey, may I have your assistance with promoting Zin Jin?
Thank you.
Then promote to a panelist.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Mr. Jin, name and address for the record, please.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal,
referral, photos, plans of this property five days in advance of the hearing, and have you met with
the RCO, and do you have a letter? Yes, to all the- Thank you. Sorry for the interruption. You may
proceed. Thank you. Good morning. I am here on behalf of Mr. Hung Liu, H-A-N-G-L-I-U, the owner of
the property, for an application at this location. I am going to share the screen with the board of
the exhibits. We have submitted according to the rules five days ahead the following exhibits
notice of hearing refusal, community letter from Lower Moor & Wingsing Civic Association,
a petition to support some letters from neighbors in support, a tax clearance deed,
application copy, the PIF form, photos and plans. I want to address the community letter first
as it is voted in opposition.
We met with Lower Moines and Civic Association.
It was a lightly attended Zoom meeting.
As you can see, there were three board members available
who opposed the application.
There were no neighbors actually at the meeting.
The board opposed it primarily because they feel
that this is a property that could be used
as a single family dwelling.
I disagree with that position on a few primary points. First of all, this property,
going to the photos, this is a property that was previously zoned as a store for many years.
The historical records of the zoning shows that it was a store for since at least 1980s.
It was left vacant for many years before my client purchased it in 2017.
However, there was not a lot of commercial activity at this particular location.
In fact, the way this building is structured, it has two existing entrances, and the second
floor is actually accessed by this door on the side with its own stairway, and the unit
that used to be a grocery store was accessed from the front.
the neighbors actually did speak with my client and I have their letters here
And I have their letters here from some of the neighbors.
from some of the neighbors their main concern
Their main concern before with this store use was that the store generated a lot of trash, had drug problems, people selling drugs in front of the store.
And when he purchased it, they actually preferred it to be used as a residential rather than a commercial space.
The building itself did get down zoned to a single family zoning, or I say five.
however I'm gonna separately share a different screen I want to show the
board the information from the Atlas system this again this is a grocery
store and it was in fact at one time a C2 commercial property was not always
RSA 5 so we have a situation where zoning did change but the building
itself structurally was set up as a C2 commercial property so what we're asking
in essence is for the property, the commercial side of the property to be used now as its own
extra unit, residential unit, partially because it is also set up in a way that it's difficult
to simply convert the entire structure. There are some advantages to this building, which helps
alleviate some of the common issues with storage of trash, because this is a corner property that
actually has its own rear yard access by door which the keys can be shared by the occupant
so they can have a storage that is blocked off from the street and away from site until the time
it is to take the trash out. As you can see this was actually taken on a trash day. The currently
the first floor is vacant so they're less trash. There's also similar uses across on the other
corners these are also used not as a commercial space or single family they're actually duplexes
there are other duplexes on the block but they're also single family houses we're aware of that
but again this is kind of a corner property that had duplex use or I mean a commercial and a single
family use so it was separate two floor use at all times as you can see there's another duplex
across the across the street here as well. From the standpoint of the current layout,
this is the current layout of the property internally. The upper floor has three bedrooms,
but it's accessed again from the side stairs coming in. This first floor was laid out essentially
identical to the upper floor is how my client had it done. It was originally basically set
up with a room here and bathroom back here but was left more open in the front as a commercial
space. I'm going to show the interior photos to the board so it's easier to see the current
interior state of the structure. I understand the outside looks kind of rough. I spoke with
my client about further work on the outside to kind of make the look more uniform and
he is in agreement to do that this is somebody so this is the accessing the side door to the
rear yard so there is a shared door to the rear yard and again it can be accessed from this door
from the street the inside of the property this is the first floor bathroom
hallway to the kitchen these are the three rooms that are shown on the plans
And this is the view going in down the hall towards the back of the first floor unit. I'm
going to see if I can get a better angle here. Is the board able to see the entire picture on their
screen? Yes. I would like to, these are three bedroom units? This is what is the existing layout,
yes. I'm going to go back to the plan so it's easier. Looks like new construction.
It was renovated. Both the upper floor and the lower floor was renovated when my client
acquired the property. Yes. So if you look at the upper floor that is occupied, I'm sorry,
this is a little bit off on the side here. So this is a stair that leads to the upper floor. It's its
own entrance and this is from the side coming in looking up the upper floor is
occupied the first floor is vacant so this is the bedroom one of the bedrooms
here's another room this is another bedroom in the upper floor
This is another bedroom in the upper floor, here's a better angle of the bedroom again
the interior of the property was renovated to be updated so it's the living space itself
is in good condition and again all these the renovations about a year plus old my client
acquired it acquired the property in in the 2017.
This is the upper floor kitchen. So it it's a kitchen bathroom and three bedrooms
there's no no living room correct? There's the living
there's no living room right there's essentially kitchen
dining area and the bedrooms.
now i have discussed with my client the possibility of converting this space because
this is the entry area to um to a living area and leaving the kitchen that would reduce this
to a two bedroom um so we did have a discussion but i want to present to the board the actual
plan of what's existing there i appreciate that a different uh look
so again from from a physical hardship standpoint the building is structurally separated between the
two floors and that is not a condition my client created it was existing at the time that he
acquired the property I do want to also just quickly go through the petition with the board
um so my client actually reached out to most of his uh neighboring streets in the area franklin
street uh ritner 2300 block of ritner is not a near neighbor i'm sorry i don't know why that's
yeah i'm sorry that's uh i don't know why that went so far to franklin 2900 at 2800 franklin's
the other side of oregon avenue okay i'm sorry about that um i i know that he was your fault
I'm just saying, I get the 700 block of Rittner stuff, but I don't get.
I'm not sure why he went so far on Franklin.
So this is the Franklin side and Rittner side.
This is additional one block down on Rittner as well.
742, 713.
We also have letters, actual letters submitted from 738 West Rittner, 727 West Rittner,
2408 South Franklin, and this one is 732 West Rittner. These are all owners
of neighboring properties that again are in support of the particular proposed use.
and this is 2442 South Franklin okay you have your client is your client here yes
he is here with us it should be Hung Liu H-A-N-G-L-I-U
lu if you're available please raise your hand h-a-n-g-l-i-u she's available she can unmute
i apologize that might be his daughter then that's uh available or hey i'm sorry i just
know that they're unmuted yes mr lu are you there yeah mr lu please spell your first and last name
for the stenographer? First name H-A-N-G, last name L-R-U. Swear to affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes. Please proceed, Mr. Jin. Thank you. Mr. Liu,
you have heard my testimony to the zoning board and the description of the property and its history.
Can you verify that it's true and correct
Adopt it as your own testimony
Thank you
Anyone else to testify in this matter
Please raise
Excuse me I'm sorry
Any questions from the board
Anyone else wish to testify in this matter
Please raise your hand
No hands
okay planning commission good morning david effecto city planning commission mr chairman
mr chairman and members of the board this property is indicated for single family use on the city's
and members of the board this property is indicated for single family use on the city's
comprehensive plan there appears to have been a corner store on the ground floor that at some
point was converted to a residential space we do not believe that a two-unit dwelling will have an
adverse impact on this block accordingly we have no objection to granting this variance
Thank you. MI-2020-000266, 729 Rittner Street. My vote is yes with proviso. Maximum two bedrooms per unit.
My vote is yes with proviso. Yes with proviso. Yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
so that's a wrap i think all right good day thank you thank you uh tanya miss kitchen
sunk it uh tanya listen to me sorry tanya sharon any any unfinished business this morning
nope i think that's a wrap that's right see you all two o'clock thank you all right
take care everyone
Frank what's happening
I think you're going to have to know
hi Frank hi Jim
hi everybody
hi everybody
hi Tom Carol
hi Sharon
hi Cherise
is Jim Snell on
I'm on I'm in the middle of
woofing down a slice of pizza it caught me it's in my mouth right now all right my gosh
uh abby ready to go live yep you're good to go hey
tanya we'll give you a few minutes you'll let us know when we're ready to
oh we're ready chair that's okay thank you all right then okay good afternoon everyone my name
is frank de chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of adjustment i'll be participating in
today's hearing along with our vice chair miss carol tenere board secretary confessor plaza and
board members mr thomas holloman and mr james snell board administrator tanya sunkett and board
attorney Sharon Saleta are also in attendance. For those of you who haven't yet participated
in one of our virtual hearings, I'll go through some of the basics of what you can expect.
First, we will be administering oaths to individual participants prior to their testimony.
Second, for the benefit of anyone participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses
identify themselves prior to speaking or testifying. Third, we'd like to advise everyone
that this proceeding is being recorded and that by participating, you acknowledge your agreement
to be recorded. Fourth, for anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise
your hand by hitting star nine and then star six to unmute yourself. I repeat, for anyone
participating by phone. If you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star nine
and then star six to unmute yourself. Finally, to enter an appearance statement, call Google
267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue.
I'll repeat that as well. Finally, for anyone who wants to make an appearance statement,
call google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address and the address of the property at issue
with that said we can begin but before vice chair tenere calls our first case
we'd like to ask if anyone is requesting a continuance or withdrawal of an appeal
listed to be heard this afternoon if so please raise your hand
frank this is sharon saletta um numbers two and four are being continued
okay so while we're waiting if anyone else is on let's see i get two
mi 2020 dash 000 328 4609 head street is continued
And MI 2020-000222, 305 South Watts Street is continued.
so again if anyone has a request for a continuance or withdrawal please raise
So again, if anyone has a request for a continuance or withdrawal, please.
your hand and if anyone has any question about the two cases that have
just been read into the record as being continued please raise your hand at this
time also you can unmute yourself and speak to a continuance after being
sworn in. Good afternoon, Mr. Bertil. Good afternoon. How are you? Please, good. Please
spell your name for the record. Steve Bertil, B-E-R-T-I-L, with Claire Harrison Harvey in
Brandsburg, 1835. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, you finish. 1835, Market Street, Suite 1400.
100 we're in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
uh yes i do and what case are you here on sir uh i'm here on uh 2844 tasker street number 13
yes that's correct thank you uh mrs vice chair uh i am here because uh representing the applicant
we were able to meet with the zoning committee of the registered community organization but we have
not been able to we were not able to schedule a full community meeting before the hearing date
we are currently on their schedule for October 16th just in terms of their internal procedures
they prefer having a zoning committee meeting first so we got that out the way but we still
need to have the full community meeting that's open to the neighbors request for continuance
thank you all right mi-2020-001181 2844-48 tasker street is continued
anyone else thank you that concludes my business thank you
here i do have a continuous request submitted by attorney of record for number 15 1528 porter street
okay mi-2020-000268 1528 porter street is continued
um chair there are two additional cases for which i don't have exhibits perhaps you could
call them so if um if they're not here we don't want anyone waiting okay why don't you call them
up. Okay. Sure. MI 2020-001184-2426
Frankfort Avenue. Oh, I'm sorry. Wrong one. Whatever it is, if you give us a page number,
that would be helpful. Okay. It's number 11.
Okay. I'll read it. Is that Lambert Street where we're waiting for documents, correct?
No, that's a different Lambert Street case.
Oh, different 100 block, yep, okay.
Yes, and 11 and 14 are the cases that I don't have exhibits.
So MI-2020-000248, 2200 North Lambert Street, Lambert, L-A-M-B-E-R-T Street,
and MI-2020-000977-301 St. Vincent Street are both continued.
Could we ask if anyone is here for those?
Just get ready to ask that.
If there's anyone here who has a concern about the cases that were just continued,
please raise your hand.
and again i'll repeat if anyone wishes to ask for a continuance or a withdrawal
please raise your hand at this time also
here we have richard ryan
good afternoon mr ryan please identify yourself for the record
richard ryan r-y-a-n last name and your address 310 south juniper
and you swear in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do and what case are you concerned with sir 305 south watt street one that was uh request
for continuance yes yes so i just have a few questions um when and how will we find out about
the new date uh miss sunkett will you'll enter an appearance miss sunkett will uh notify you
you can speak to this applicant or attorney no i think you're an interested neighbor
i'm a property line neighbor yes yes
I'm a property line neighbor, yes.
Check the online ZPA appeal calendar.
If you put in appearance, then you will get notification.
All right.
So that's all.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Ryan.
Anyone else?
I have quite a few.
You can.
Mr. Dittree.
Dittree.
oh sorry i had to unmute myself can you hear me now yes uh please spell your first and last name
for the record and give us your address dino d-i-n-o d-tree d-i-t-r-i i'm on here for 301
st vincent street philadelphia pa 19111 and do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and welcome about the truth yes sir and saint vincent was number 14 number 14 you uh there
was a request for continuance not that i know of we met last week with the rco and the neighbors
outside the place with the uh potential tenant who i believe is also on this call i texted him
he is he did say he's logged in um excuse me this is sharon's letter there wasn't a request for
continuance i just don't have any record of having received the required exhibits oh sorry
doctor i'm sorry i we didn't get any notices to to send anything in or whatever we thought that was
all this is fine for me so i'm not sure what what's it comes in with your instructions with
the poster you get an instructions of how to proceed what you should do with your exhibit
package five days in advance as well as your poster requirement because that wasn't done
timely we will continue your case you can find out the date of your new hearing by looking on
the zba calendar next week okay um but i thought we were we were originally scheduled for like in
may and all that stuff was sent in that we were supposed to do the poster the picture and everything
with you know we're not going to be labor at this point there's instructions that are sent out if
they're not followed to the letter you will be continued if you need to reach out to the zba
staff for information or guidance we'll be more than happy to help but this is continued okay so
we're done for the day then yes thank you thank you anyone else here we have tina marie russell
Tina you can unmute your mic and wait to be sworn in
Russell hi please spell your first and last name and give us your address
it's Tina Marie Russell 1631 West Susquehanna Avenue the RCO is North Central Philadelphia CDC
and what case are you here on I'm sorry do you swear in the firm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do and what case are you here on 2200 uh lambert street
the question i had was did i hear you say it was continued uh yes
um we did receive a letter in opposition from the rco but we did not receive any documents
from the applicant that i'm aware of okay thank you that's all you can proceed thank you
um carol before you begin um we have the uh let's let's do the uh well lambert street we already
did okay uh well in what order are we going to do 905 did we is that number one on our list
the number one is two but we also are going to be hearing uh 905 spruce correct
it's number three on our list that's 19 i got it okay 1905 all right it's okay let's let's go in
the order we have them then calendar number mi 2020 000 144 68 18 shoe avenue and let me also
announce uh please do not attempt to testify in the chat any comments should be directed to the
board thank you here if i could if i may please um that all participants be mindful that you will
not open your mic to speak unless directed by the chair or vice chair and please be mindful
to make sure that you fill out an apparent statement if you want to receive correspondence
about any hearing thank you chair thank you we want to add that to our opening statement i guess
We ought to add that to our opening statement, I guess.
All right.
Mr. Nockamson?
Good afternoon.
Name and address for the record.
Yes, Alan Nockamson of Nockamson, PC, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
And have you emailed the exhibit packet with the proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral, photos, plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
I have, and I do.
Proceed.
Good afternoon.
Again, my name is Alan Nockam, Simp Nockam, Simp PC.
And I'm going to share my screen.
And I have in front of you a packet of exhibits, which include eight of them.
The first exhibit is the deed to the property, showing that Northwest Holdings, LLC, owns the property at 6818 Chew Avenue.
This is in the East Mount Airy section of Philadelphia.
After the deed, I have proof of the certificate of tax compliance or that my client's a good standing with the City of Philadelphia.
After that, I have the notice of refusal that's dated October 22nd of 2019.
This is an RSA 3 property.
We're looking to put a coffee shop with a minimum of four seats, not to exceed 20 seats,
not utilizing any commercial cooking appliances or exhaust apparatus into place,
as well as have a single-family dwelling in the existing structure.
We are being refused because we're proposing to put a prepared food shop in this property.
I will say this.
This property has never been used solely as a single-family structure.
It's always had a commercial component going as far back as the 1930s where it was used as a grocery store.
It also has been used in the past as also a sandwich shop if you look at the L&I file for this property.
The fourth exhibit is our application for appeal that we filed with the zoning board of adjustment along with the project information form.
After that is the zoning map.
You'll see where we are in the neighborhood.
We're on Chew Street between East Gorgas Lane and Meehan.
I'll just point out this Google map shows Trades for a Difference.
This is also an entity that's owned by the principals of Northwest Holdings LLC, the property owner.
If you looked up Trades for a Difference, you'll see that they're a very good nonprofit entity
that does a lot of great work in the neighborhood in terms of construction
and employing people in the neighborhood as well.
After that is our exhibit for the pictures.
You'll see this is the property.
You'll even see like this is the structure in the front, which has always been used commercial in nature, which has been an addition in the front.
And in the back is the residential portion of the property.
There is even a signage.
I think this was like a co-op grocery store at one point.
You'll see the signage that says Unity Frankfurt because that was what was originally there back as far back as the 1930s.
You'll see pictures to the right of the property on Chew Avenue, to the left of the property on Chew Avenue, and then you'll see our orange poster as well, showing that we posted the property.
You'll see the next is our plans and drawings.
As you'll see, this is the commercial component, which is approximately 500 square feet.
You walk in, there's seats to the left, there's some tables to the right, point of sale system in terms of ordering food.
You know, pre-COVID and hopefully post-COVID, this will be a little place in the neighborhood where people can just, you know, get a cup of coffee, some pastries that are cooked off-premises and pre-packaged and or, you know, before or after work get food.
We did meet with the East Mount Airy Neighbors Association, and as you can see, there were 42 people that attended the meeting.
41 VOTED IN FAVOR, 1 VOTED IN NON OPPOSITION, 10 VOTED WHO ARE NEARBY NEIGHBORS IN SUPPORT IN FAVOR AND 1 IN NON OPPOSITION.
AND WE HAVE A LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM THE EAST MOUNT ARIES NEIGHBORS ASSOCIATION.
I HAVE CARLOS MASIP ON THE PHONE. CARLOS, CAN YOU VIRTUALLY RAISE YOUR HAND?
Thank you.
i'm unmuted hello everyone hi uh carlos can you state your full name and address for the record
sure my name is carlos massed address 2413 tulip street philippia 19125
we're in a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes sir thank you okay so um carlos you heard everything i stated today
Correct.
And is it true and correct?
Yes, it is.
And do you adopt it as your own testimony?
Yes, I do.
We also, I believe, have Joe Green, who will be one of the operators of the business,
and one of the things I overlooked in my exhibit packet.
I do have some information about Mr. Green.
He's a well-known pastry chef in the city of Philadelphia,
and there was an article about him
with the Temple Fox School of Business
season alumni.
Again, just to reiterate,
there will be no cooking on the premises,
but he will be using his product
at the premises prepackaged.
Any questions from the board?
Anyone else wish to testify in this case?
If so, please raise your hand.
Mr. Richardson, are you here for this case?
Here is Mr. Richardson from Council Office.
Mr. Richardson.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon. Please identify yourself.
Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass.
The Councilwoman.
Swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
I do. Yes the councilwoman supports the granting of the variance. Planning Commission.
Good afternoon this is Dave Munson M-U-N-S-O-N with the City Planning Commission.
We're going to affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth.
I do. Please proceed. This property is indicated for single family residential use on the
comprehensive plan. We feel that this use does not pose any negative impacts on
the surrounding area. Accordingly, we have no objection to the granting of the
variance at this location. Thank you very much. MI-2020-00014468182 Avenue, my
vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. Thank you.
Thank you. Calendar number MI2020-000772, 1905 Spruce Street.
I'm sorry.
Hi, this is Alan Occamson of Occamson, PC. I'm the attorney of record for 1905 Spruce Street.
I was waiting for you to leave the screen, but you're the attorney.
You did give your name and address.
Do you swear a firm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
And have you exhibited the entire packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal referral, photos, and plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
And have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes, in all respects.
Thank you.
You may continue.
All right.
I'm going to share my screen for this one as well.
Thank you.
So just a little bit of background.
We were here approximately a month ago regarding this matter in 1905 Spruce Street.
If you look at my exhibit packet, Exhibit 8, we did receive a letter of non-opposition from the Center City Residence Association.
So currently, the property is allowed to be used on the first two floors as for professional and business office use,
and then on the third and fourth floors of the Center City property for residential use.
Al Ciardi recently purchased the property and is looking to put his law firm and maybe a few subtenants in there into this property.
So when we met with the San Diego State Residence Association, they required a proviso, which required law firm use only into the property, and we had no objection to that.
You know, it was a very well-attended meeting.
We even had some of the nearby neighbors voice what they had to voice in terms of whether
what they had to voice in terms of whether or not they were in support or not.
or not they were in support or not.
We met with the zoning board. A few of the neighbors attended the hearing and had a couple
of concerns. First of which, they had a concern that the property wasn't properly noticed.
And I'm just going to put photographs to exhibit six and just go through this.
so this is a rather you know tall property um and you know where we placed the nose originally we
placed it in the window there they claimed that they that it should have been in the door um also
this property goes street to street on manning uh and they claimed that my client did not properly
post so that was an issue that they claimed that there should be a continuance just for that
So the board heard that. We stated that, you know, if there wanted to be a supplemental hearing, you know, for more information and also to give us an opportunity to maybe meet with the nearby neighbors.
So we reposted the property with this, you know, hearing date and time in the front on the door and in the back of the property.
So we did meet with the nearby neighbors, you know, at their request or at least to try to work to see what we can work out.
And, you know, we gave them a full presentation, just like we gave to the zoning board, just like we gave at the community meeting, and ultimately asked them, well, what do you want, right?
Right now, this property, the first two floors, is commercial in use, right, or allowed by the code, you know, based on the variance, commercial in use.
By the way, this is an RM4 property.
We want to expand that use to the third and fourth floors.
You know, Mr. Ciardi has a boutique commercial litigation firm where he has seven full-time employees.
So it's a light use.
He may want to sublease, you know, to a few attorneys here and there.
But, you know, especially given COVID and just in general, he doesn't want to be a sub landlord.
He may just have a couple attorneys here and there.
There was really no indication as to what they wanted other than to, you know, hear what we had to say.
You know, we did do research on this block. There are 31 properties on the 1900 block of Spruce Street, seven of which have some commercial component.
Because one of the issues that the neighbors stated was, like, this is a block residential in nature.
And as we indicated to the board and to the community and to them, that's not correct.
Almost 25% of the properties has some type of commercial component in it.
And it's not something that's out of the ordinary where you would have a law firm take, you know, hold of a townhome in Center City, Philadelphia, and then like something like the 1900 Spruce Street or Locust Street or Pine Street and have their office there.
So especially someone who owns the property and who wants to have their law firm there.
So we received, you know, yesterday or the day before that they had no interest in compromising or anything like that.
And they had no obligation to.
I'm just telling you what, you know, notification we got.
You know, they also asked us to send notice of today's hearing to all the affected properties.
Even though we don't have an obligation to, like, we try to be as amenable as possible.
So there were 82 addresses where we mailed notice of today's hearing with an image of the orange poster.
So everyone would have noticed.
We repostered the property.
We met with the neighbors.
But ultimately, we're in the same position we were when we met with the ZBA last month where we have the coordinating RCO in non-opposition.
We have a use that's very light compared to what it could be in terms of, you know, expanding the residential space to have some residential multifamily.
So, you know, we're here to ask the board to decide this matter today.
question alan on the seven properties uh you indicated on this block that have some
commercial use do you know to what extent each of those properties uh is utilizing commercial space
that i do not know so we did a quick search of it we went basically we went into atlas.philadelphia
for every single property and you know all i'm going based on is the public record so i don't
know the answer to that. I will say this, you know, the fact is my client has seven full-time
employees. We also indicated that, you know, of the full-time employees, not all of them are
attorneys. Most of the support staff, their hours of working are nine to five. You know, you do have
an attorney and, you know, some attorneys work later than others, but it's a really light use.
But it's a really light use, and that was why the, you know, Center City Residence Association required, you know, that proviso in terms of law firm use, because they didn't want any business and professional office use in that building.
And that was why the Center City
Like right now, the first two floors allow for professional and business office use, and, you know, when we purchased a property, it was previously being used basically as a shared space.
where the use was a lot greater like we're not trying to overuse this property so let me ask
that question a different way of the seven properties that you uh you spoke of do you know
what type of commercial business is being used in them um let me see offices are they doctor offices
or i think i think yes mostly offices yes they're not like they're not like restaurants or anything
like that so mostly offices okay so there's a restaurant on the corner um nail salon hair salon
cleaners law firms doctor's offices i'm familiar with that area yeah i mean and and we took
testimony uh in the beginning at the earlier hearing with mr sorority mr sorority actually
started his his law practice with his father many many many many years ago at 1900 spruce street
So it's just like he started his career on the 1900 block of Spruce Street where his father's law firm was, and he wants to end his career on the 1900 block of Spruce Street in the building that he now owns.
Thank you.
Do you have any witnesses you want to bring on?
Yes, I have Mr. Ciardi.
Mr. Ciardi, can you virtually raise your hand?
Mr. Ciardi, are you going to unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in?
Am I unmuted?
Mr. Ciardi, please identify yourself with the record.
Spell your first and latest name.
Albert, A-L-B-E-R-T-C-R-D-C-I-A-R-D-I.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Please proceed, Alan.
Mr. Ciardi, you heard everything I stated today.
As well as everything I stated at the earlier hearing.
that is correct and is it true and correct everything you stated was true and correct
and to answer the chairman's question i know that 1900 spruce street is a lawyer
is a law firm um and it still is and i was a little more uh interested in knowing the other
properties i assume they're not corners the other prop the other six properties are not
corner properties i don't know the answer to that okay yeah so i actually had the addresses
mr chairman yeah i meant to take a ride there and i completely forgot i wanted to go do a visual for
myself but i completely forgot to do so so according to public record the addresses which
have a commercial component are 1900 spruce street 1911 spruce street 1913 spruce street
1915 Spruce Street, 1919 Spruce Street, 1925 Spruce Street, and 1929 Spruce Street.
And I just limited it to the 1900 block.
I mean, if you look at both sections, you know, there's, and by the way, Mr. Ciardi,
and I don't remember if I asked you this question, so I'll just ask it again.
Do you adopt everything I stated today as your own testimony?
Mr. Ciardi, do you have anything to add that I may have missed?
Look, as I think, as you indicated, I purchased the building to put my firm here.
We wanted to keep everything in the city.
We thought with the pandemic, it was easier for us to spread out within the building as opposed to being in one of the high rises.
so the purpose of what we're doing is to try to put my seven full-time employees really
spaced over two floors as opposed to squeezing them in on the second floor of the building and
it really doesn't allow that much room for expansion or you know if I have it but it really
there's not that many more people I could add I would only have one more floor to add them
so our use is is pretty light um and i believe we would be good neighbors and we are we are
i think doing what we need what we're supposed to do and and i'm keeping everybody here um in
the city where uh i think it benefits everybody and you know had we done i think and i i have to
you know confirm with my architect but if we couldn't use this for offices and we had to use
it for residential our use would be much greater because you could get a lot of units in here and
our use would be much greater because you could get a lot of units in here and potentially there'd
be more parking issues and right now the only person that parks here is me and I use the garage
everybody else is on public transportation yeah members of the board if you may remember there
is an accessory parking garage in the rear just for one you know one space but and and just so
you look at the pictures i mean this this property actually was profiled in philly mag um you know
one of the reasons why mr security purchased this is just as a handsome property and he wanted to
you know again close his legal career in such a beautiful property and expand the use to additional
floors which you may need but he's this is not uh you know one of these like hack jobs where he's
trying to you know increase the use to a point where he's just trying to fill it up this is more
of a boutique property with a boutique law firm in there so thank you okay uh question anyone else
alan no no no mr chair uh questions from the board no no no okay anyone else wish to testify
in this case please raise your hand i see a lot of participants i'm going to ask at the onset and
probably have to repeat it. If you have a comment, please do not continue to repeat the same comments.
New and different is okay, but please do not repeat the same statements that prior speakers
may put on the record. Thank you.
Here we have Constance. Constance, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
I'm here.
ma'am would you please spell your name for the record first and last name and give us your
address yes my name is constance cone c-o-n-s-t-a-n-c-e last name cone like an ice cream cone
c-o-n-e and i live at 1910 spruce street thank you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do thank you please proceed um i think i'm going to start by
saying we are not our neighborhood group that is protesting this is not concerned with density as
Mr. Malcolmson talked about but with the nature and we are concerned that it's being turned into
completely commercial space you agree to that variance and then one after another building
might go that way that's our fear for also when Mr. Malcolmson talked about the buildings that are
commercial in nature I think he's miscounting we have a dry cleaner on one end on the north side
and we have food and friends convenience store which I hope reopens on the other end on my side
of the block we have 1900 which we talked about and we have the AVA and that's it there are no
other businesses on our block I've spoken to many of the neighbors not just the ones that were at
the meeting that we had with Mr.
Knocklinson and Mr. Chiarity, and
they're not happy, and I think a number of them have
written letters to
the ZBA.
We do have
numerous letters, yes.
I think that's basically what I would like to say,
and I think there's some other people who would like to
speak as well.
So, Mr. Chair, I would actually
object to the introduction of those letters
into evidence, just because, like, again,
we've been completely forthright.
We've given more than enough notice, more notice than we even required under the law.
So if people actually gave letters to the ZBA, I think I'm entitled to actually see them.
Well, I'm sure, Sharon, we can provide them.
Or Tanya, I'm sure we can provide them to you.
But what I read on the few that I read, they're all pretty much the same as what the last witness spoke to.
We have a host of letters.
Alan, I can provide them to you.
Thank you.
So, Wade Alpert, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, sir.
Please identify yourself with a record.
Sure, my name is Wade Alpert, A-L-B-E-R-T.
I am counsel for the Center City Residence Association, and I'm with Sobel Law Group,
and my address is 1845 Walnut Street, 23rd floor, Philadelphia PA 19103.
And do you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Thank you, Wade. Please proceed.
Thank you very much.
So I just, I'm only speaking, I spoke when this came to a hearing a few weeks ago,
and just reiterating what happened at the CCRA's public hearing on this matter,
that we heard several neighbors who were in opposition
specifically to the use of this property.
specifically to the the use of this property as a as a commercial property and the civic association
believed that a um an adequate adequate way to hopefully remedy this situation would be to
require a proviso that the use only be um for a um and i want to read this so i get it absolutely
correctly the business operator the premises is a law firm and the purpose of that was that um
we understood the the zoning committee of ccra understood that uh a law firm use uh would probably
not be um problematic necessarily for the community um given the the light use that was
discussed by the applicant in this case and that in the event that a future owner comes in and
wants to use this property for a different commercial use it would require them to go
through the zoning process again and almost allow this to be considered by the neighbors on a case
by case basis and if they there are if there is a potential use in the future uh that would
more greatly impact the neighbors, then perhaps CCRA would object at that time and the neighbors
would have another opportunity to provide their opinions. So again, I'm just sharing that concern
and having spoken to the applicant after the zoning committee made his decision,
it's my understanding that the applicant agrees with this proviso. So thank you very much.
thank you anyone else something new and different sure we have irene irene you can unmute yourself
and wait to be sworn in hi i'm mrs irene baker uh miss baker please uh identify yourself with
the record spell your last name and give it your address i live at 1908 spruce street my last name
is baker b-a-k-e-r i just wanted to correct someone mentioned um i'm sorry i need to swear
you in do you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do please proceed someone mentioned that there are nail salons restaurants and doctor's offices
on our block and i just wanted to confirm that she has remembered incorrectly there are no nail
salons doctor's offices or restaurants on the block of swiss 19 and 20. i didn't hear that
i don't know if anyone else did but i haven't heard that yes someone on the committee said
she knew the block but she didn't know the block not during these hearings okay yes yes earlier
five minutes ago at exactly 2 30 someone mentioned that lisa something perhaps
No, Carol Tenere.
Carol.
I think you're thinking of the wrong block, Carol.
I may be a block down, but there is commercial.
Okay, Carol.
I'm sorry.
I just wanted to set the record straight that this is not a block that has those kinds of
businesses on it.
It's a residential block, other than the few that Connie Pohn mentioned.
Understood.
Thank you.
Thank you.
anyone else
there we have susan susan you can unmute yourself and wait for this morning
i just did i don't know if you can hear me just making sure i can hear you now so uh full name
i believe we sent a letter in but give us your full name and address please oh it will do uh
Chairman, Susan Satkowski, S-A-T-K-O-W-S-K-I, 1907 Spur Street.
We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Just a few points, Chairman and other members of the board, and not to repeat.
The history of the property is this.
In 2014, the prior owners sought a variance to operate a second business,
which was related to the husband and wife that owned the property.
So it was a second business and a design firm and also a law firm on the first floor.
The proviso from Center City Residents Association at that time was that it remained husband and wife
related and that did not work. It expanded well beyond that and owner
occupied. The problem is at the time CCRA voiced the problem that they were
They were concerned that the use could become inconsistent with the residential character of the block.
concerned that the use could become inconsistent with a residential
I'm going to object to the test one because I think she's saying what CCRA was saying.
So we have Wade Albert.
I'm saying back in 2014, and I have that as an exhibit that I sent to the board.
I don't see a share button here, and I can put that into the record if I have the opportunity.
Yeah, again, I'm going to object because I believe it's not just on the applicant to share all documents, but also anyone who submits anything to the Zoning Board in advance of the hearing.
I did not see that in the instructions, but I'm happy to, and this has all been discussed on that call with you and previously, so it's really nothing new.
um secondly the the two properties that were listed as the seven commercial several of those
people um have sent in letters voicing opposition so they're certainly not commercial use they're
condo owners so that may have been a historical overlay but everything on this block residential
with the exception of the corners um also presented to ccra i was at that meeting um was the idea that
there'd be one firm in this building. We only learned that it was going to be one firm on two
floors and then rented out to two other floors for other firms end of the year or whenever COVID
ends, and I hope it ends soon, but that's not what was presented to CCRA. Thirdly, that meeting
was not well attended. Many people on the block hadn't even heard about it. And since then, we
have at least 15, if not more, surrounding nearby neighbors objecting to this use. I don't know how
many it takes to sway the board in terms of neighborhood opposition, but clearly it's against
our own neighborhood association. We're in that usual situation. Last, as I
understand the law, a variance is granted if it will not result or it will be
granted to prevent an unnecessary hardship to the owner and if it will not
adversely affect public health, safety, welfare and presents a condition that's
unique to the property and the applicant didn't create the hardship himself. This is a recent
purchase. When Mr. Ciardi purchased it, he knew that it was only zoned for businesses on the
first and second floor. He knew that it had to be related to an owner occupancy. So those features
of the law are not met here. I would respectfully request for those reasons to have the variance
denied. I still don't see the exhibit button or the share file presented, but I would like to
submit those documents. Thank you. I think it's a general question. If the board were to deny this
application, which would limit the use of the law firm to the first and second floor,
what would the community, I mean, what do you do with the third and fourth floor? They could be
converted into residential units. I don't know how many units you can get up there legally
without getting a variance. Doesn't that create a little bit more of a hardship, meaning
the density issue, as opposed to a law firm where people come and work 8 to 10, 8 to whatever the
hours are, and traditionally maybe not on a Saturday and Sunday. That's the confusing part
for me. And the other thing I just want to say for everyone who's listening, I understand everyone
concerned if the board were to approve this that it's a slippery slope that's not how this board
operates we look at each case on a case-by-case basis uh there's no such thing as well if the
neighbors are more uh inclined if the number of residents are against something that the board
will generally go that way we look at each case uh you know people obviously um you know can take
exception to what we do but we look at these cases on a case-by-case basis so again i just was i'm
curious as to what what happened to the third and fourth floor they're going to stay vacant i don't
think so and mr knockam so maybe you can help me do you have any idea what he what the number of
units residential units could be uh uh occupied his third and fourth floor well just from the
dimensions Mr. Chair I mean you're easily going to be able to get a few per floor at least at
least and that's that's what we don't understand instead of like you know nine to five versus five
you know, nine to five versus five to nine. Like I live in the city too. And by the way,
to nine like I live in the city too and
I don't have a garage. And, you know, the worst thing is when you go home is you're fighting for
parking spots. When you have a law firm, you know, people are leaving nine to five. And again,
Mr. Searty, you know, we actually talked about this and, you know, Mr. Searty, please chime in,
but like most, if not all of his employees use public transportation or live in the city.
So that can change. That can change. No, that could change. No, no. But the point is, is like it's definitely a greater density and use and impact to the community. So when you're looking at like what's the impact to the community, what this witness stated, it's actually a worse impact to force the owner to like look into a multifamily usage.
So, you know, in terms of the slippery slope, like where people get a use and then go beyond that use, that's why there's a mechanism of L&I, right?
You know, we say it time and time again, we're only allowed to use the property based on the use permit that we apply for.
If we exceed the scope of that, there's ramifications to that.
Go ahead. I'm sorry.
No, I'm sorry.
Does Mr. C already live there?
no he lives he lives in the city he lives in the fairmont section of philadelphia uh he his you
know he he vacated his uh a space that he rented in commerce square he wanted to remain in the city
and have his law firm remain in the city that's why he chose that space and again another reason
why he chose the space was he's not like trying to hack up a townhome he wants to like have a
beautiful town home where he doesn't want to have everyone all condensed in there.
It's on purpose.
And in terms of our presentation to CCRA, again, it's been a while, but I believe it
was discussed of how many employees we're going to have and the possibility of subleasing.
And that's why after the meeting, it was broached by us in terms of making sure it was limited
it to law firm use, because we, and Mr. Albin can, I'm sure he can verify this, we did talk to Mr.
Albin and say, yes, we plan to sublease, and he said, that's fine, law firm use only, and we agreed
to that. Thank you. Yeah, we do have one other person, Mary. Okay, thank you. Hi, my name is
mary pinkney wood that's m-a-r-y new word p as in paul i n as in nancy c k n as in nancy e y
last name wood w-o-o-d i live at 1917 spruce street in philadelphia 19103 thank you do you
swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth oh yes sir i do
um sure um you know we've lived here my husband and i have lived here for 15 years um working on
16 i guess now um at any rate um you know the law firm at 1900 spruce street um as far as impact on
the community they aren't part of our community that's here on 1900 spruce street uh they they
don't they're not here during the evenings when people are here um they're not here on the
weekends when people are here and they're just not part of our community um you know as as a result
you know when it snows they don't shovel in front of their building uh or on the side of their
building because you know they're not part of our community so you know litter you know attracts
around their space because you know they're not talking about 1905 i understand that my concern
as a resident is if we uh add say another law firm type uh business to the block we're looking
at another situation where you know we've taken uh community people and turned them into non-community
people and you know you say today that um you know you all look at all of these things
as they come in and look at them individually and that's y'all's stance at this particular
point in time but if we let this building go to 100 commercial who's to say in 20 years that
that will be the stance and that's my concern and that's all i have to say thank you here we have
mary jones from the council person's office miss jones
yes hello can you hear me yes we could have you know i yes i'm on my cell phone today okay
mary jones from uh council president daryl clark's office um city hall room 496
Are you swearing the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
we're in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
uh yes
Yes, I do.
Thank you, Mary.
Please proceed.
um well the council president um has um decided to support the position of the near neighbors based
on um communication from them and just their concern for uh the more business use to be out
of context with um the the residential nature of the neighborhood um so yes supports their
position thank you thank you that's all chair you can proceed okay again i'll ask any questions
from the board no no no no planning commission
uh good afternoon this is dave munson with the planning commission um this property is listed
for residential multi-family use on the comprehensive plan uh at the last hearing
the Planning Commission went on record as having no objection and our position has not changed.
Thank you very much. MI-2020-000772, 1905 Spruce Street. My vote is yes with the proviso.
Limited use as a law firm. Limited law firm is limited use. Maybe I'm not saying that right.
used to be limited as a law firm used to be limited as law firm my vote is no
yes for proviso yes for proviso
thank you
calendar number mi 2020
020-000-976-3248 North Carlisle Street if you're here for Carlisle please raise your hand
mr levy or levy you've been promoted to panelists yeah that's me you can share your screen as
necessary and wait yes sir can you put your name and address on the record and spell your name
Ophir Levy, O-F-I-R. My last name is L-E-V-Y. The address is 3248 North Carlisle, 19140.
Do you agree to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
And do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal? Strike that.
This is an application for a permit for a three-family dwelling in an existing structure. You can proceed.
um i'm gonna use uh my uh my guy right here my managerial company he's gonna explain you guys
uh all the thing we do work on it uh we had the permit we like he's gonna explain you better than
me um go ahead yeah hi i'm noah i'm the manager for the property for off your lady erin are you
there? I don't know if she is, but I think you have to. Yes. I am here. Yes. Mr. Levy will have
to present himself. Thank you. Mr. Levy, you need to testify. So, and if you can share any of your
exhibits, that would be helpful. Yeah, we just did that right now. Is that okay if I speak for
him his english is not that great that's the reason i'm here and i'm the manager of the property
no not really uh if if you could maybe when we ask the question okay you can speak to him and
then he can you know translate it back into english for us okay so what i'm trying to say
i bought a property in 2014 when i bought a property uh i hire a guy a company that the name
is matthew in mexico uh they do the permit for uh three family drawing and i was pretty sure
that everything was done um i do have the drawing i do have whatever i supposed to have and i do
have a rental license as like I do know that is a one building I didn't know that
I need to get a three rental license for each for each unit so what happened
So what happened since then, up to today, when I hired this guy to management this building, so I used only one rental license for all of those years. And that's it. I thought it's fine because it's one building. I didn't know that I needed three rental licenses.
since then up to today when I hired this
and then back at the time when I bought it was a tree it was the same thing we
just renovated so it was a tree unit three three apartment and even back at
the time on 19 I think 64 was a tree a unit three unit and then somewhere in the
middle is a change and I know you bought that in 1964 you know I bought it 2014
14 when I bought it it was it was a three a family a family home I got it now okay I understand I
saw 1964 I was curious okay yeah so somewhere in between when I bought it up to up to uh that time
in 1964 and then and then I hired somebody and he did the permit uh for a three family drawing
and I didn't know that is not complete I thought it's fine and uh that's the only property that I
have like more than one unit so what happened I thought for one building is one rental license
I didn't know that I need uh like a permit for each unit right so that's what happened like I
like I fall in between do you see the permit over here on uh when I bought a house I bought it from
somebody with a tenant there was a a mess people then I picked them when I
picked them I'm just doing you everything you know I tried to do that
nice and livable and I hired this guy he did the pyramids he did the the
pyramids for for like a tree unit and I thought it's fine and then he gave me
only one rental license so I didn't know that I need three rental license for one
building so now when i hire him he said that's not right let's do that right so that's that's
why i'm here could you could you show us that the floor plan again please yeah that's the plan uh
from back at the time in 2014 when the guy uh when the guy applied for the permit the three family
draw a drawing totally any questions from the board no no no no anyone wish to testify in this
case please raise your hand um chair we have tina mary russell um miss russell russell meet yourself
hi i'm sorry i was trying to um get back to the screen um i wanted to know that they have a
community miss russell miss russell yes i know you were on earlier this morning please put your full
name on the record and your address okay tina marie russell um north central philadelphia cdc
and rco at 1631 west susquehanna avenue you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
nothing but the truth i did thank you please proceed excuse me if i can interrupt for a minute
sharon saletta there was a community meeting but the um rco asked the applicant to come back on 10 20.
okay thank you is that your testimony miss miss russell um i didn't have we didn't my testimony
was that neither my RCO or Swamp Pool's RCO was notified of any community
meetings regarding this case. We were asking for a continuance.
We do have proof of all the mail and stuff that was sent out if you want.
Do we have anything in the file?
Yes, we do.
Yes, you do.
There you go.
No, they didn't meet. All right. Anyone else have any interest in this case? If so,
please raise your hand.
I have a call-in user. You can unmute and wait to be sworn in.
Sir, you can take your exhibit down.
hello yes ma'am yes can you hear me yes please identify yourself name and address for the record
this is adrian fernandez swamp little neighborhood process association rco
and we are one of the affected rcos for this address and do you swear and affirm to tell
the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth um yes please proceed okay um there was no notice
Okay. There was no notice of community meeting for this address. Mr. Levy had absolutely no contact from his email address with the RCOs. He had someone else contacting us, and she, even up to September 3rd, said that she had not arranged for a community meeting with the RCO coordinator, which was Taube United.
of community meeting for this
Also, I have a problem with the refusal because what Mr. Levy was describing was a legalization
of an existing apartment building, however, the refusal does not mention legalization.
The refusal is presented as if he's taking a single-family home and converting that into
or requesting a variance for multifamily, so the refusal is not factual and not presented
to our community factually or to the planning commission factually.
So we're asking, I understand that he says he had a private meeting,
that meeting was not public because there was no notice to, I guess, more than one RCO.
And he says that now he has planned the meeting for 10-20.
So we're asking if there can be a continuance so that the 10-20 meeting can hold
and then we can communicate with him for bringing the documents that we need to see what's going on.
However, if this is actually a legalization, we would like to ask that he return to the permit office
and either amend or get a new refusal so that we have the facts of what he's trying to do here.
If there's three apartments there already, I think it's obvious.
I think it's very obvious what he's doing.
It's not obvious to us because we don't know his building.
There's nothing obvious to us.
You don't know the building?
No, I don't know this building.
We usually become familiar with it right before a meeting.
That's normally what many of the RCOs do because there's a lot of buildings,
so we don't assume anything.
We definitely didn't know this was an apartment building,
and Tiger United and Tiger Improvement are very familiar with the buildings
around 32nd and Allegheny, and I don't think they knew that.
So we need him to get a refusal that reflects actually what he's trying to do,
And I'm sure the law requires that.
So we need him to get a new refusal or amend the current one.
And we have a right to have meetings and also the zoning poster represent the fact of what he's done.
We got it.
We get the point.
Sharon, in that folder, again, what was the RCO?
What RCO was it?
I'm having trouble reopening the folder, the exhibit pack.
There was a letter from an RCO saying they met, that they did not hold a vote, and that they
requested that he come back prepared to answer questions on October 20th, but he did have the
required meeting. He had a peer. So we'll hold the hearing until the 20th is when he has a,
they're asking to meet with him correct
yes so we'll hold we'll hold the vote until you meet mr levy you're going to meet well he would
have to be more than holding the vote he would have to come back and report on the results of
even though we already have a letter from one of the rcos saying that they did meet
i'm sorry again i'm having yeah yeah i'm just i'm just but if you
excuse me was this purchased as a three-family dwelling
yes yes what do you mean like hold on when you bought the property was it already three
apartments yeah it was the three apartments but when i bought it but not on uh not on uh like on
uh on a paper or whatever like you know no but that's what it's a really about it sounds to me
more of a legalization carol that's what it appears to be yeah exactly itself if you can
see like we showed you at 2000 sorry excuse me and do you have in your exhibits do you have any
pictures of the posting yeah yeah we do would you bring those up please and also
all those years they charge me for a trash removal like twice a year that is
mean that is all I have pulled up the refusal it since the application is for
three-family dwelling in an existing structure that's exactly what a
legalization that's how it would usually read so it was posted so we don't the
so we don't the refusal was is accurate correct
refusal was is accurate correct
it is okay so that issue's been resolved it's been posted there was a community meeting
and we just don't you just having a hard time pulling that one up oh nice town what was that
nice town tayoga
he's got a license he doesn't have the license that's what brought in the talk management
the tenants i'm referring from parking on sidewalk man
the table to vote to allow the order to be better prepared to field questions
all right uh i asked questions planning commission can i add one thing that as far as the requests
that he present a multi-family rental license he can't do that until the um until a zoning
permit is issued this is a prerequisite to getting a multi-family license
i'm sorry repeat that sharon one of the things the rco is asking for is for him to produce a
multifamily rental license he can't get that until he has his own yeah all right planning commission
good afternoon this day months with the city planning commission
um this property is listed as residential single family use on the comprehensive plan
this application represents an overuse of the property accordingly we object to the granting
of the variance at this location chair yes if i could mention charles richardson has just raised
his hand okay thank you mr richardson good afternoon again mr chair uh we're supporting
the rco's request that this be held uh because of the fact that there's a lot of misinformation
going on seemingly. I don't have any information regarding a meeting that took place beyond
getting a notice that one was supposed to take place. And, you know, we don't have any
information as to the results of that meeting or anything along those lines. From what I'm
understanding from Ms. Saleta is that there was a letter from the RCO stating their opposition.
We'd like to get to the bottom of it, and we'd just like to have this held, if possible,
for them to meet with the RCO again and see what the actual results are going to be.
Thank you.
So, Sharon, you're saying we can't just hold this, we have to continue?
they would have to come back and present the results of the
second rco meeting and it would be a limited hearing just to follow it so we would hold it
to a specific date and time yes at 2 p.m i'm sorry say that again november 4th at 2 p.m
Thank you, Tanya. Okay. MI-2020-0007, I'm sorry, let's start over. MI-2020-000976,
3248 North Carlisle Street is continued until November the 4th at 2 p.m.
if i could just state for a limited hearing yeah based on the response of the meeting
okay yeah based on any consideration feedback from the our related rcos okay and mr levy you
have to repost
did you hear that mr levy no you have to put a new you're gonna have to repost it
So you advertise for the advertisement for the next hearing.
You're going to have to meet with the community.
You have to repost it.
Sorry, Chair, I was saying he doesn't have to repost.
He doesn't.
I'm sorry.
That one is a resumption.
It will be listed online and because you announced a specific time and day today.
They're incorrect.
It will not have to be reposted.
Thank you.
Thank you.
thank you calendar number mi 2020 001180 3602 brandywine street
the attorney is meredith ferliger
the attorney is meredith furliger
and family probably
good afternoon name and address for the record please meredith ferliger f-e-r-l-e-g-e-r 1500
market street suite 3500 e do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i certainly do do you agree to waive reading the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance refusal referral
photos and plans of this property five days in advance of the hearing and have you met with the
RCO, and do you have a letter? Yes, yes, to all of the above. Okay, where's the baby? I'm very sorry,
my co-counsel has decided to take a nap. Please don't hold that against me. We won't, well,
we're all going to be taken up now. Right? You can proceed. All right. Okay. Good afternoon,
Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Again, my name is Meredith Ferliger of the law firm
Dilworth Paxson. My client, Rami, if you want to just hit the raise hand button now
so that we can get you sworn in ahead of time. My client is Rami Shreem.
Not sure if Ramy has two devices, but there's feedback.
Hello, this is Ramy Shrine, R-A-M-Y-S-H-R-A-I-M.
And your address for the record as well, Ramy?
433 North 32nd Street, Philadelphia PA, 19104.
thank you we're in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth
yes i do we hear this this looks familiar this place no no there's no history on this one all
right okay there's a lot going on in west philly so they probably all blend together at this very
similar and they had a an umbrella similar color okay that's so funny nope this this one is new
so before the board today is a proposal that will eliminate the last undeveloped
lots on Brandywine Street in West Philadelphia that exists between North 36th Street and North
37th Street. The board has an exhibit packet with 15 exhibits that I will refer to throughout.
The application today requests the consolidation of lots of two lots and for the erection of a new
structure to be used as a four-family dwelling. The board refers to the zoning map.
the board has zoning plans at tab five and floor plans at tab six as is reflected in our floor
plans the four units are three bedroom three bath units each of approximately 1100 square feet
trash will be stored in within each unit and is picked up by a commercial sanitation provider
in conjunction with Rami's management company of his other units in this area
of West Philadelphia. Now, with respect to the application, we received one
refusal. I would be happy, of course, to go into additional details about the
structure itself. We do not have any refusals regarding the structure. We
received one refusal. As you can see in Exhibit 8, the property is currently
zoned RSA-5. However, it is surrounded by a variety of different zoning classifications,
including partially CMX-2 across the street, RM-1 to the rear, and RM-1 along North 36th Street.
I have included at tab 3 a copy of bill number 170-398, which rezoned this property
and many others in Mantua back in 2017. As you can see, the property and everything around it
was originally zoned to RM1. After the rezoning was done, the property was rezoned to RSA5,
despite how the surrounding properties remained zoned or were changed.
However, these lots are both extremely small. Each of these lots is just over 700 square feet
and only 12 feet wide, which are the narrowest lots on this entire block.
So that would understandably make a biorite development on each of these lots.
So that would understandably make a by-right development on each of these lots extraordinarily challenging,
as the lots are not only half the size required by RSA 5, but they are extremely, extremely narrow, even for single-family development.
After the consolidation, the newly formed lots will be just about 1,500 square feet.
Now, the former RM1 zoning of the properties would have permitted the requested four units by right.
So the hardship here today lies both in the result of the rezoning, but also considering the context of the neighborhood here.
Now, the zoning map that I showed the board does reflect that the rezoning left this particular block with a smattering of different zoning classifications.
The use of surrounding properties is consistent with that.
I did include permits in the packet for multifamily residences in the area, which vary from 2, 4, 6, and even a 28-unit dwelling, which is just here on the corner of 36 and Brandywine.
This is the least minimum variance, as we are not requesting any dimensional variances.
The structure itself does comply with the provisions of the code.
The density itself is also in line with the former zoning, which would have permitted the proposed four units,
as well as the character of the neighborhood, which accommodates many structures of higher density.
We do submit that this will not increase local congestion, as the block is already restricted to permit parking.
Given the location in West Philadelphia, the property has ample access to public transportation.
The proposal will not impair light and air or negatively impact surrounding properties.
These are the two last vacant lots on the south side of the 3600 block of Brandywine Street
before you reach the intersection of North 36th Street. So this does put the proposed structure
at the rear of homes on North 36th Street, that front on North 36th Street. In addition,
building one structure instead of two does further serve to mitigate the impact as a
code compliant structure can be built on the newly consolidated lot. We submit the variance
complies in full with the provisions of section 1430380 of the code, as is further detailed in
my memorandum of law that I've submitted at tab 10. Now with respect to the community, that's a
particularly important aspect of this project despite the low density use that
is proposed. We did meet with Mantua Civic Association and their letter of
support is attached at tab 14 and does highlight this particular developers
willingness to work with the community. Rami himself has lived in West
Philadelphia for at least the last 20 years since he originally moved to
Philadelphia to attend Drexel. So he moved here, he never left, and he has, you know, now made it
his goal to, you know, better the community that he lives in. In particular, Rami has made a
commitment to the owner of 3606 Brandywine Street, who is the immediately adjacent, the only
immediately adjacent neighbor, who has been using Rami's vacant properties as her personal garden
now for the last two years. And that's what you can see in the photograph with the umbrella. You
can see her garden here is really quite gorgeous. So Rami has committed to Ms. Williams, who I
believe is here today, if the board has any questions from her, that he will continue to
allow her use of the vacant properties for the next three years, assuming the request is granted
before the board today. So Rami really did go above and beyond to work with not only the
civic association here, but the immediately adjacent neighbor who has, you know, been using
this Rami's properties for some years now. So Rami, have you heard all my testimony before the
board today? Yes. And do you agree my testimony is true and accurate and would you adopt it as your
own yes and do you have anything in particular that at this point you need to add um no i'm just
reiterate what you've what you said is that i uh um you know i'm very involved in the neighborhood
and when i learned that miss mary williams have been using this uh property as as her garden for
years now i chose to um uh postponed any development plans and you know as she's she's been using it
for the last couple of years since I've owned it and I'm like you said I'm
And like you said, I'm committing for her to continue to use it for at least the next three years and just, you know, just seeking to get permits approved and that's it.
committing for her to continue to use it for at least the next
Thank you. Mr. Chairman, you had a question?
Did I swear him in? I don't remember.
Oh, you did. Yes.
Yes, I did.
All right. Thank you.
Will these be apartments or condos?
to be honest with you at this point i i'm i'm not exactly sure and that's why i said
at least three years i mean who knows what's where we will be in in three years and how
i figured that's why you're waiting okay uh questions from the board no no planning commission
i'm sorry not planning commission anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your
hand. Here we have Harrison, you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn. I believe I'm
unmuted. Can you hear me? Yes, please identify yourself, your name, full name, spell your last
name. Good afternoon. My full name is Harrison, H-A-R-R-I-S-O-N, and my last name is Hans,
H-A-A-S
I would additionally like to add
that I'm joined
Hold on sir, excuse me, excuse me
I'm not sure if the sonographer's getting that
it sounded kind of muffled
I'm going to
hold on
I have removed my mask
my name is Harrison Hawes
H-A-R-R-I-S-O-N
last name is Hawes
H-A-A-S
and I am the owner and resident
at 516 North 36th Street
which is adjacent to the property we're in the firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth i so affirm thank you please proceed i would like to add that i'm joined by
ms mary williams who uh does not have a computer of her own uh so she would like to testify after me
uh so just wanted to get that out there to begin with okay i sent earlier this week a letter to
the member of the zoning board. I don't want to belabor points if you've
already had a chance to review. I'm curious, was that letter received?
Tyron or Tanya, do we have that letter?
We would have to check for it. All right, in that case, let me go through that
point by point by the letter. There are two major issues with the proposed
application. The first was that the applicant failed to provide proper
notice to the surrounding community. The applicant's initial application was
processed at the end of July, July 28th. First notice was sent to the
neighborhood of the RCO notice was sent on September 15th and did not arrive
until September 18th. That left less than a week before the RCO meeting and less
than two weeks before this meeting. The applicant was required to send a letter
within 20 days of that July 28, 2020 date and did not. That has had a material
impact on the neighbor on the neighbors opportunity to respond, would have liked
to gather together, talk to each other and discuss the application. We were not
afforded the amount of time that was necessary before the RCO meeting and so
has presented a real problem certainly for myself and I believe that there are
other neighbors on the line who wish to speak to that as well. Mr. Chairman I
would just like to object to his contentions that proper notice was not
provided. I will reserve my comments on that until he is finished but I just
want to make sure that objections on the record. Thank you. At the RCO meeting it
was brought up that they were unable to if the applicant was unable to send a
letter because there was not a date scheduled for the meeting. The code
specifically provides for the eventuality that a date and the notice
was still required to be sent. The second issue with proper notice was that the
applicant failed to post and maintain the orange notice posted on the property.
While I am delighted to see that it was posted at some point, as soon as I
received a letter, I went outside, looked at the property, which I walked past every
day, and did not see a letter. I continued not seeing a letter every day between the
date I received the RCO notice, which again was more than a month after it
should have been received, and the date of the RCO meeting. Again, the requirement
is not just that the applicant posts the notice, but they maintain it, and the
applicant did not maintain the notice. The real problem here is there just
The real problem here is there just wasn't notice to the affected members of the community.
wasn't noticed to the affected number
The applicant attorney has stated that there is only one property directly adjacent.
That is true.
However, there are four properties that are separated by a two-foot, 10-inch alley shared in common.
And this would be effectively directly behind my back garden.
So this notice would have been very helpful had it been received in the proper amount of time.
Now, I don't believe that this should be a basis for a denial. I merely ask that we receive the one
month that we should have been afforded to prepare for this and meet again at either the end of
October or the beginning of November after we've had a chance to discuss this with the community
and hopefully with the applicant and his attorney and reach a compromise or proposal that can
receive unanimous support. I'll also note that the RCO meeting held on, I believe it was the
22nd. The RCO announced that it was a tie. I don't know what changed in between the RCO meeting and
the letter of support, but I do find that curious. What was that? I missed that part. You said
the RCO meeting and you faded it off. Sure. At the RCO meeting, it was announced that the
result was a tie, that there was an equal number of attendees who were in support and an equal
number of attendees who are opposed. I will note that because of the late notice,
our neighbors were unable to attend. But regardless, at the RCO meeting, it was a tie.
And then in the letter apparently sent to the ZBA, it's been announced that it is
the neighborhood supported it, which I am confused by and do not understand.
Moving along.
Sorry, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we try to limit as much testimony as we can to two minutes.
You're way past the two minutes. I believe someone else is there.
Yes, may I please summarize the remainder of my argument in the next 30 seconds?
Please do.
Thank you.
The second problem is that the applicant cannot demonstrate a hardship.
The applicant has the ability to build on this lot by right, especially post-consolidation.
They can build a single-family home.
If their argument is that the lot is too large to build a single-family home, then
that is a result of their own actions, and they should really have appealed for
dimensional variance. There are no other triplexes or quadplexes on Brandywine
Street, which is significantly smaller than the other nearby streets, 37, Spring
Garden, and Haverford, and it should really, if the applicant wants to see it,
be a duplex, certainly not a quadplex. Thank you. As I mentioned before, I'm joined by
Ms. Mary, I would be happy to put her on the line.
Yes, you do, ma'am.
My name is Mary Williams at 3606 Brandywine Street.
I bought my home in...
Ms. Williams?
Ms. Williams, you swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed.
Okay, I bought my home back in 68.
I saw the two properties being tore down. The street was a little rough around that time.
I had a fence put up so they wouldn't use the side of my house for a bathroom.
The property was not being used. I asked the city of Philadelphia could I buy the property.
I was under impression of this letter that when they were ready to sell that I would they would
let me know the city of Philadelphia did not let me know I wouldn't have put that much money in a
to you know two lots so right now I'm a little concerned I think the young man for giving me
another three years, first of all. And right now, with this big building being put up with no parking,
no parking on the street, but everybody has to run out of their house every two hours to check their
car so they wouldn't get a ticket. The street is full of trash. If you drive down there right now,
you will see the trash on the street from people that put their trash out two days after trash.
And for this building to go up, I was under the impression that they have a trash person,
but we have a big building on the opposite side of the street right at the corner where all of
where all of these trash cans, about 20 trash cans out there,
these trash cans about 20 trash cans out
and the trash is blowing up and down the street.
I am the one that sweeps up.
Ma'am, with all due respect, I hear your concern about other properties
and them not maintaining the trash.
But if your testimony is, we need it to be specific to the application that's before us.
Thank you.
that um like i said i thank the young man for the three years that he's giving me
i really appreciate that
okay chair we have corey sap you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in okay
and we have koreen sap to be sworn in
good afternoon please identify yourself with a record spell your name for the stenographer
my name is coreane c-o-r-i-n-e last name is sap s as in sam a p as in call p as in call
your address 514 north 34th street where is that in prox in relationship to this property
two blocks i'm on a course 34th and brandywine that's 36th and brandywine okay thank you
hold on please swear and affirm to tell the you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed i'm just gonna i'm just gonna object
to her testimony given that she's two blocks away from this property? I'm calling on behalf.
I'm the representative for the Mantra Civic Association. Okay. Okay. Please proceed. Okay.
So I was brought on with Mantra Civic Association during COVID because of the overuse and overbuilding
of the uh properties i understand this is the last one now i can say that um the letter that
harrison mentioned it is an error that i will discuss with the mantua civic association that
it was a tie so there was no conclusion so that needs to be corrected outside of that
uh we rezoned this area uh the mantua civic association because as the uh attorney farami
mentioned it is an over building uh even though this is the last two lots on this block it's still
an overuse of the property it's an overuse on this block uh it is going to be a hardship to
the neighbor as you see in this picture behind it uh that's miss mary's house on the concrete
where the garden is behind it she's got a big giant building behind her and then right next
to this building is a small three foot if it's three foot in alley um i believe that we can rami
is a responsible builder in the community i've worked with him on other projects but i believe
with notice and with uh uh an agreement that we can somehow with miss mary and the nearby neighbors
if we give good notice that everybody can come out and come to an agreement we can right now
this it's an overuse as it stands according to the Philadelphia planning
it's it goes against your plan and also with our remapping and rezoning it was
as a result of the overuse that we is just too many apartments versus the
single-family homes in the Mantua even on this block so right now we need to
continue this somehow we can is a lot of errors in this whole development and I
believe that if we sit down and come together with the community and the nearby neighbors not
the community but nearby neighbors that some kind of resolution can come but right now it's an
overuse it's it's it's just too much for even if they consolidate it along with the lot
and the alley that's next to it in the alley that's behind it um the other the other issue is
regarding the alley and where this is there was uh there's a lot of resolutions because this is
actually three properties and not two so it's a lot of uh things that's not clear on this property
that the community and the owner and attorneys need to discuss clearly uh with the uh nearby
neighbors and also to the philadelphia planning and zoning because this is actually three properties
with my uh due diligence uh of getting this property here all right so you're asking basically
for a continuance to have further conversation with the developer yes anyone else Mr. Chairman
this is Rami Shami if you can allow me at some point to answer um whenever you can please yeah
um whenever you can please yeah let me let it see if is anyone else wish to testify in this case if
let me let it see if is anyone else wish to testify in this case
so please raise your hand and if you're going to testify please uh provide us with some new and
different testimony iman um you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in okay thank you
all right good afternoon please spell your name uh identify yourself spell your first and last
name for the record? My name is Eman Alkoban, E-M-A-N-E-L-K-A-L-B-A-N.
Your address? 3616 Spring Garden Street, Unit D.
Okay, do you swear and affirm? How far away is that?
It's parallel. So like Spring Garden and Brandywine.
Okay. You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I'll keep this very short. I know that we've already gone overtime with everyone else. I attended the community meeting. And I really believe that the developer is trying to work with the next door neighbor and just, you know, a small thing that we're mentioning that she is being very gracious about it, that she's going to have it for another three years, but that's already on top of two years.
So it's really five years if you think about it, and I think that that's something that should be put into consideration, too, that, you know, he's working very closely with that and being very gracious about it.
And, you know, I know that we're not exactly casting votes here, but I think that's something that, you know, is important to think about.
Thank you.
We have Francine Murray.
You can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in.
Okay. Good afternoon, Ms. Murray, please identify yourself with a record name and address.
Good morning, Branson Murray.
Your address?
3606 Brandywine Street.
We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed.
Yes, we have some concerns regarding the building.
it does appear to be out of sorts and not consistent with the neighborhood platform.
So I would move toward postponing the meeting so that further discussion can be had
and the community can take a part of the actual structure that's going to be allocated to that site.
Thank you.
That's all.
All right.
Is that it?
am i able to respond to a couple things yes uh look i mean the bottom line is that it seems that
most people might be willing to have if they have a continuous they're willing to have some
conversation whether the compromise works for your client or not i don't know because
we don't know what that may be uh but is any is there any is miss jones from councilman
council president clarkson this is west philadelphia this would be andrew goodman
okay it's on the other side brand new all right thank you i got my all right is anybody mr chairman
this is rami shrine i'm i'm the owner if you allow me to answer yeah i just wanted to check that
usually a council the council city district council person has a representative and i just
wanted to know if anyone was on the line. So this is Gautier's district. Yes. Okay, Mr. Shrami.
Rami, if you could hold off for a second, I want to just address a couple things for the record
before we get into the possibility of continuing this to a later date to allow additional
discussions. So first of all, regarding notification, proper notification was provided
to the community. And in fact, we, we worked directly with Mantua to try and schedule a
meeting for this. And they, I could pull emails to present to the board if necessary, but Mantua
did not realize when the hearing was coming up. And they ultimately scheduled us for a meeting
somewhat last notice. My office did mail out the proper mailing. We do have certificates of
mailing to establish that. And because of the short notice, Mantua asked us to put together a
flyer that they hand-delivered to every address that was on that list. So in this case, there was
actually double notice provided just to make sure that the community did have ample notice.
as you can see in the photograph proper posting was done 21 days prior to this hearing
um you know as you know with most property owners they they do their best and and use
as much diligence as they can to ensure that these notices stay up um and given the fact that mr haas
um and given the fact that mr haas has participated in this hearing today that is
that is constructive notice that he had of this hearing uh and i also question no question about
it and also i do believe that he attended the community meeting as well so there was no issue
with understood and i think all what you're saying is great but it'll be a moot point
if we continue this, right? Understood. Rami, go ahead. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I just wanted
to point out two things. Number one, Ms. Mary Williams, my next door neighbor at 3606 Brandywine,
I'm actually confused at this point, because I actually was over at her house, and we sat in
the garden, both me and her, and she was very thankful and really said to me, like, I really
appreciate what you're doing and and and and it was all it was all support and and she even gave
me a plant out of that garden yesterday that I have in my house right now and so I'm really
surprised and a little confused of what and really want to understand what is her position today
because it seemed like just you know one neighbor you know took her in and now she's sitting next
to them and and I really wasn't clear on her uh her position today so I would like to clarify that
one and then we're going to continue this and we'll have time but i i do i was a bit confused
myself to be honest with you so yeah and then the other thing is the the lady that claimed that
she's a representative of mca that that is also not accurate because again i um um uh i we did
hold the meeting and they did issue the the letter they did do the count it was initially they
miscounted a vote and and i was there when that happened so it was uh uh and supported in favor
but i guess a continuous yeah everything is fine let's do the continuance because i've heard kind
of conflicting comments uh before it for it but maybe too many units but maybe not enough
you guys will work it out all right okay mr chairman i'll work with miss sunkett but we
would request a relatively short continuance on this given that a full and ample meeting was
already held and we do need to just work out a couple issues. Okay you'll work that out with
Tanya. Yep actually if we is there a way that we can announce it now so that Tanya will not have
to. If Tanya has it yeah. And this will be a follow-up hearing. We can do November 4th as well
2. November 4th at 2. Thank you. Thank you. So MI-2020-001180-3602 Brandywine Street
is continued to November the 4th at 2 p.m. This hearing will be resumed. We gave you the date
at which time we'll consider any feedback from the RCO. Thank you very much. Thank you.
calendar number mi 2020 00091 3860 brown street isaac slepner i think is the attorney
hi good afternoon uh can you put your name and address on the record please yes uh good afternoon
mr chair members of the board isaac slepner with matione limited 100 north independence mall west
suite 5a northwest philadelphia pa 19106 and i am counsel to the owner of 3860 brown street which
is 3858-GERRARD-LLC. With me is, oh, you're welcome. Do you swear or affirm to tell the
whole truth and nothing but the truth? Yes, I do. Do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes, I do. And have you emailed an exhibit packet with the
required documents, which are proof of ownership, tax clearance, referral or refusal, photos, plans,
five days in advance of the hearing and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter
yes we did email yes we met with the rco and yes we have a letter thank you okay thank you um good
afternoon uh members of the board um we are here this afternoon actually this hearing was continued
from our initial hearing on august 19th i believe uh at which we presented a number of the substantive
at which we presented a number of the substantive materials and had a bit of a conversation with the board regarding what issues had been raised at the initial RCO meeting.
materials and
The chairman at that time had ordered my client and I to go back to meet with Andrew Goodman of Councilmember Gauthier's office as well as Mantua Civic to try to iron out some of the specific issues that had been raised at the RCO meeting.
And we did meet with Mantua Civic. On one occasion, we met with Andrew Goodman, as well as two of the chairs of Mantua Civic, Dwayne Drummond and Gwendolyn Morris.
And that was, I thought we had a pretty good conversation. It was just me and my client and those three.
we then agreed that our next course of action was to meet with again with Ms. Morris and Mr. Drummond
who are two of the chairs of Manchua Civic as well as several of the neighbors on the 3800 block of
Brown Street and we did meet with them as well this was all via Zoom and phone calls of course
last week. So a few of the issues that were presented specifically were, first of all,
were affordability at which my client had presented. He had presented this to the board
when we had previously been before the board, and he also had presented this
Again, to the RCO chairs and the RCO constituency, his planned development at the site, 3860 Brown, is a six-unit multifamily development, and he had proposed of those six, three would be in the affordable range.
He had mentioned three of them would be market rate around $1,200 or so for a one-bedroom.
Three would be in the affordable range at around the $800 range.
And my client, Eugene Nadevich, is here on this call and can speak more to that.
Another issue which was raised was encroachment on property lines, which my client assured the assembled that, you know, in order to build and develop and do anything, he needs to have a survey.
He needs to have a structural engineer if there's going to be any digging, which should not be an issue because his intended property is a freestanding property.
It wouldn't be physically attached.
There wouldn't be a party wall.
And I think that my client, Eugene Nadevich, is here to address some of those other issues.
but before we get to that did the board want me to run through our materials nothing has really
been altered in terms of our proposal at this point I do have materials regarding a new
orange poster and I believe some new mailings but that is of course up to the board
can't hear anybody can't hear you can you hear me
yes carol we could hear you frank could you do an audio check again
no no could you go out go in thank you
can you hear me now yes yes okay so i think i had asked do you have any exhibits we don't need to
see the poster because I missed some of your opening remarks. I apologize. I can I guess
briefly as you had ordered at the previous hearing on this we went back and met with Andrew Goodman
of Councilwoman Gauthier's office as well as the leadership of the RCO. Right. I'm going to share
my screen. I have our exhibits. I don't have to go through all of them. Most of them are largely the
same. I don't
um i don't think we had any real substantive changes to them let me ask this question i need
think we had any real substantive
changes to
to interrupt you when was the original hearing the original hearing had been in august i believe
it was august 19th i hear that day
so the original hearing had been august 19th
all right i'm just trying to refresh my memory i don't i probably was here but i just want to
all right is mr goodman on
no hands are up here let me let's do this before we go any further any questions from the board
no no no anyone wish to testify in this matter if so please so please raise your hand
Eugene, you're up
We have Eugene
Mr. Nadovich
Mr. Nadovich, please give us your full name, spell it for us
Eugene Nadovich
E-U-G-E-N-E
last name N-A-Y
Z-I-C-H
You swear to the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
I do. Please proceed.
one thing that
Isaac said, actually we're going to have four units
in the $800 range of the six and two
of them are going to be about $1,000.
The biggest issues that
the community had, like Isaac said, was affordability
We're making $400 to the $800 range.
We're one of the only developers that's accepting vouchers.
We work with veteran services, and we try to make it work for the community.
Some of the fears that they had was the word damage surrounding properties.
One, we wouldn't because we're not digging that deep.
We'll obviously have an engineering site.
And two, it's a freestanding building.
and kind of the only way we can really make it work in that affordability range because we don't
have any other subsidies we don't have any other grants it's all private money so the only way for
us to be able to make it work in that price range is to be able to have that many units it's very
difficult to make it work with less units because number of units does not make a difference on
the outside water digs does not make a difference in the foundation does not make a difference in
roof or windows, so all those costs are divided by six instead of by a smaller number. So we try
to address all the concerns that neighborhoods had, and I think we did a pretty good job at it.
All right, so it's still at six units. Yes. We're still at six units, correct?
Yes. Okay. Isaac, you look like you're ready to say something. I was just going to say,
I believe Mr. Nadevich is also with at least one of his nearby neighbors there on Brown Street
who does not have his own login. Is that correct, Eugene? Yes, he's next to me right now.
Does that person want to testify? If so, please have him get on and identify.
Hello everybody, my name is William Smith. I reside at 730 North DeKalb Street.
That's about a block and a half around the corner.
It's like a block up around the corner from 3860 Brown.
Okay, you swearing the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir, I do.
Thank you.
Mr. Smith, so you are, as you mentioned, a near neighbor of this project, correct?
Yes, sir.
And are you in favor of the board granting these variances to Mr. Nadevich in order to build the project as proposed?
Yes, I'm surely in favor. I've been in this community for a long time, being here all my life.
And I've seen what's been happening in this community.
And I do a lot of work with Eugene, for Eugene and things like that.
he gives a lot of jobs and do a lot of stuff for the community and i actually think that our
community looks so much better like that and um you know when you build it in the community a lot
of people have complaints about things that doesn't concern the community but they're not
helping the community you know and i see him myself yeah i remember you now
and i see him myself yeah i remember you now i remember this case now
thank you for your testimony is there any any questions from the board
no anyone else wish to testify in this matter if so please raise your hand
no hands okay thank you planning commission
Good afternoon. This is Dave Munson with the City Planning Commission.
This property is indicated for residential single-family use in the comprehensive plan.
This application represents an overuse of the property.
Accordingly, we object to the granting of the variance at this location.
Do we have anything from the Councilwoman's office in the file?
I believe on file we may just have a letter not in favor, but I'm not even sure we have that.
I don't think we actually have anything written from the Councilwoman's office.
I know Mr. Goodman had been at the initial hearing on this matter back in August.
I'm just reviewing my materials.
Yeah, I remember this case now.
okay so what i'm going to do i'm going to hold this hold this for one week
well yeah tanya is it okay if i um interject sure i received email from andrew goodman stating
finally we remain in opposition of application number three nine nine five oh 3860 brown street
our understanding is that the applicant met with the community members but they were still unable
to read the resolution without this as we have stated before we will continue to oppose any
attempt to poke holes in recent community-led remapping initiatives without true demonstration
of pasture end of statement thank you thank you clears up a lot um
so again i just want to refresh myself i missed some of your testimony uh was there any consideration
on behalf of your client, Mr. Slepner, to reduce the number of units,
or was there any number of units offered by the community group?
Well, we, and I will have my client also testify to this.
Actually, Eugene, would you like to testify to this?
You're not opposed to perhaps reducing the number of units.
Is that correct?
Yeah, that's correct.
And was that offer put on the table at the last RCO meeting?
We certainly discussed it.
We raised it.
Obviously, it wasn't our first choice.
Understood.
But it was raised.
Well, did the community make an offer or suggestion as to the number of units?
from what i understand they just want a single family house priced at under a hundred thousand
dollars but that's not going to happen either all right yeah i don't know that's kind of uh
the situation that we run into where some community members they want something that
you know one of the one of the price points they compare it to is why is it more expensive
than the house that, you know,
community men brought up, why is this going to be more expensive
than the house that grandparent bought in the 1920s?
Understood.
All right.
I'm going to take a leap of faith here
and just suggest that we hold this one more week.
I would suggest that you reach out to the councilwoman
and if there's any movement on your part
or your client's part, Mr. Slepner,
about reducing the number of units,
that may be something that she might be acceptable of.
And maybe not.
Okay, so we're going to hold this one.
Excuse me, this is Sharon Salete.
If we are leaving the record open,
Mr. Schleffner will have to come back
and report on any progress.
We'll need a date and time.
We can't do this in an executive session then, right?
Not if you're leaving the record open.
Well, I'm going to close the record.
Well, then he can't come back to you with any...
Oh, that's right.
He can't come back at that point.
okay all right can we get a date my calendar
yeah but it's our calendar yeah
i mean i will make myself available let's put it that way i'm just i just picked up my calendar
october 28th at 2 p.m all right so sure we'll hold the record open tanya uh sharon until october
28th? Yes. At 2 p.m.? And I'd make it very concerted.
yes at 2 p.m and i'd make it a very concerted effort to go and speak with the councilwoman
we will certainly make an effort to do that and then um mr slepner you will return to report
any progress and i will be back before the board on october 28th at 2 p.m thank you do i need my
client at that point i'll probably bring them your choice your choice yeah i don't it's up to you
all right in any event i'll be there thank you i have nothing further before the board today
thank you thank you all right have a good day thank you
calendar number mi 2020 001154 4328 main street
the attorney is william o'brien
mr o'brien hold on a second please sharice are you okay
yeah i'm okay i just had to check something i'm okay you'll let us know all right thank you okay
carol yeah i'm looking for mr o'brien i don't see him are you there
i just promoted him to panelists he had to go out and come back in okay
hi mr o'brien please put your name address on the record uh william o'brien manioc law office
4322 main street philadelphia 19127 on behalf of baker street partners uh i have okay do you
swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do you also agree do
agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy i do another question
have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal
referral photos plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with
the rco and do you have a letter yes we have a letter we've met with the rco the documents have
been sent we're ready to go okay great go I'm going to share my screen
the first page is an index if that's it might be easier to catch to follow but
i've gone through this the first uh on page two starts the deed um and uh the bear with me
um the tax clearance is on page seven uh when i put it in it came up non-compliant
um i then checked the uh history of tax payments on the property it actually shows a 4100 credit
balance um i then sent a letter or an email rather to the um tax clearance unit requesting um that
they you know respond if this doesn't seem to be correct i've not yet heard an answer i did copy
uh josh cohen uh councilman jones's uh chief of staff but the revenue department has not yet
responded um the property is a vacant lot uh the photographs on pages 10 and 11.
a a local artist was kind enough to put a cover cover the board with a um a mural
so many guys got a lot of murals um the next photograph is the rear of the building from
the towpath that's the canal wall you see here
and the next two pages are renderings of the proposed building that will replace
that will be built on the lot the historic commission has approved uh the proposed facade
because this is in the historic district it has first floor retail apartments on the second and
third and a roof deck on the on the roof the door to the left is the entrance to the commercial area
the door to the right is the entrance to the apartments and then from the back of the building
the rendering depicts this is a retaining wall with a planning bed on top at the canal tow path
at the canal towpath, which is required under FEMA flood requirements.
which is required.
The rear window here on the first floor opens, but it is not a deck.
The second and third floor have Juliet balconies, and as I said, there is a roof deck on the
top floor. The height is compliant, that's the elevation on page 14, that's the front elevation,
and the rear elevation on page 15. The floor plans are on pages 16, 17, and 18. Again,
the first floor is commercial as required under CMX 2.5 zoning and you see the entrance to the
commercial space with the entrance to the apartments. Each of the floors has two apartments,
one in the front and one in the rear. Here's the third floor and then the staircase here to the
deck so there's a roof deck uh for each of the apartments on the third floor
if you're on the second floor you don't get a deck um the uh we met with the rco there were about 25
members who participated in a virtual meeting and it was a unanimous vote of nine members
in support of a variance. The variance is for the, from this point on Main Street from actually
one building further, one building to the south would be 4326. From 4326 going north up to Green
Lane, all of the properties consume the entire lot because the lots are shallow. They go from
main street to the canal so what is proposed is rebuilding in the same footprint as the building
that was demolished a few years ago the building was unsafe so there the maximum occupied area is
not satisfied in the rear yard depth is not satisfied but those are conditions that were
never compliant and are not continued not be compliant along this section of main street
And it's a topographic condition where the, not topographic, it's a lot configuration issue, which imposes a hardship on the property.
Let me introduce Steve Osheski.
Mr. Osheski, would you give your name and address?
Spell your last name, please.
Steve Osheski, O-L-S-Z-E-W-S-K-I.
Address is 4127 Main Street.
and are you one of the managing partners of Baker Street partners yes did you hear my testimony yes
you accepted and adopted as your own yes and is it truthful yes I was going to swear him in but
we'll take your word for it uh questions from the board
anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands thank you tanya planning commission
good afternoon this is dave munson with the city planning commission this property is indicated
for commercial mixed use on the comprehensive plan. We feel that this use does not pose any
negative impacts on to the surrounding area. Accordingly, we have no objection to the granting
of the variants at this location. MI-2020-001154-4328 Main Street. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes.
good luck thank you thank you thank you may be excused yes you may have a good day stay safe
all right calendar number mi 2020 000 285 2210 east allegheny avenue
Attorney Sean Wellen, you've been promoted to panelists.
Sean, can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Certainly.
Thank you.
Sean, S-E-A-N, last name Wellen, W-H-A-L-E-N, address is 6 Coulter, C-O-U-E-E-R Avenue.
Address is 6 Coulter, C-O-U-E-E-R, Avenue, Suite 1000, Ardmore, PA, 19003.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I will with one caveat.
Somehow it got listed as 2210 East Allegheny.
The property address and all the underlying documents are 2202-2214, East Allegheny.
I'm not sure where that 2210 came from, but I went back and checked.
Everything else says the correct address of 2202-2214.
Have you emailed an exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
refusal referral photos and plans of the property five days in advance of this
hearing and have you met with the RCO and have a letter yes to everything okay
thanks you may proceed all right if it may please the board I will skip with
the pleasantries given the late hour and the bedraggled nature of myself let
alone anyone else on this list much appreciated all of the all of the
required documents were provided in the exhibit package I'm happy to answer
questions that the board might have with regard to those i actually have a fairly simple case for
you today um a very large 110 000 square foot uh property is what we're talking about today
here you go 2202 to 2214 East Allegheny it is this you know sorry for my artwork I'm not very good
it is the entirety of this block going all the way up off of East Allegheny which is right here
and across from a bus depot for the school district going and abutting the train tracks there
It is in an IRMX district and let's see, you can see here's some of the photos of the property.
Right now the property is vacant although it's been a long-standing parking lot and has been
for decades. The proposal today is actually just a change of use requested by L&I. It only requires
a special exception it does not require variance relief. So what you have is this is the property
right here you can see going right up to the train tracks. The overgrowth has been cleaned up
and some of the site has been better maintained. So this is the bus depot right across the street
and I'll just go back up to the overall property so you can see that so this property has long
used as a parking lot the owner actually is a modular manufacturer as well as a developer so
what you're seeing here are two pictures of what modular building units look like they're
manufactured primarily at his factory here in PA, and then they're put on these truck
trailers and delivered.
We previously, to COVID happening, used this site to store these truck trailers for them
to be used at other developments in and around the city.
You may have seen, this is VVC Construction, they've done two of the major developments
at 42nd and Chestnut.
So, we were using this in this fashion, and then last year, L&I came out to us and said,
you know, do you have a use for this?
We said, well, the whole property is zoned as a parking lot.
They said, well, does that work?
We said it was sufficient.
They then asked us to just do what they called a more appropriate use, although they didn't
issue a violation or find that the parking lot use was not really appropriate.
They just asked us to submit this application for a equipment and material storage use because these were being parked here for the short term for use off-site.
We went before the RCO and for a number of non-zoning reasons, the RCO voted us down.
Here's a copy of the RCO letter from the Harrowgate Civic Association.
we got voted down 17 to 1. Essentially, the near neighbors raised some very legitimate concerns,
which are on us and the client. It has not been properly maintained, and as you can see, was over
It has not been properly maintained, and as you could see, was overgrown.
That was all changed.
Basically, it hasn't been used because of the development slowdown during COVID,
although it will be used going forward.
Somehow, it slipped off of the property management list and landscaping list
that the client maintains and has its people go around to.
That has been rectified, so that will no longer be an issue.
and essentially the neighbors didn't like the use even though it's a permitted use and this is only
seeking a special exception to show that it's not more burdensome than any other similarly situated
use. The RCO and the near neighbors thought that this attracted homeless people. They wanted the
entire site redeveloped and not just cleaned up and maintained. We are actually proposing today
ironically, a short-term use as equipment and material storage because we have already presented
L&I with a development proposal and application to redevelop the entire site as a mixed-use
development, which is what the neighborhood ultimately wanted anyway. We provided the CDR
package to Ryan Keller at Harrowgate Civic Association. That is going to proceed in the
ordinary course before L&I, but again at L&I's behest, they asked us to proceed and get this
change in use. So we are going forward even though it's just in the short term while we're
waiting with that pending application. So what you'll see in the way that we will take care of
this is obviously with trailers like this, that's a lot of monetary value sitting on a trailer,
and they need to be in pristine condition when they get carted over to whatever development site
is being built in Philadelphia. Accordingly, when this starts getting used again, the site will be
very much more cleaned up than it is even now, and there will be 24-hour security. All of the
gates and locks will be fixed so that no vagrants or any other trespassers can access the property.
Again, there will be 24-hour security.
The site will be active and well-maintained and cleaned regularly.
And again, this is just for a short-term use for special exception, not a variance.
With that, I will happily answer any questions that the board may have that I obviously was going quickly through.
Otherwise, I will introduce my clients and be done.
Let's introduce your clients.
all right thank you uh bill mcgrority are you on
and michael pisarczyk please raise your hand as well gentlemen when you come on would you
please identify yourselves name and address spell your names for the record
my name is michael pisarczyk m-i-c-h-a-e-l last name spelled p-e-s-a-r-c-h-i-k
We're in a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Thank you, Michael.
And you're here as an employee of the developer and VBC companies, correct?
That is correct.
And did you hear all the testimony I presented today?
I did.
And would you agree that it was true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief?
And would you adopt it as your own?
I will.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
and mr mcgrority are you on yes i am it's uh william mcgrority it's mc capital g r o a r t y
address is 6128 ridge avenue square and firmly tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth i do and mr mcgrority you are here on behalf of the owner today that is correct
and you heard all of the testimony that i presented i did and would you swear and affirm
that it was true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief yes and would you adopt that
as your own testimony yes i would thank you very much uh members of the board i i present myself
and uh mr smogority and this our chick for your questioning thank you questions from the board
No. No. Planning Commission. This is Dave Munson with the Planning Commission. This
property is listed for industrial residential mixed use on the
comprehensive plan. We feel that this use does not pose any negative impacts to
the surrounding area. Accordingly we have no objection to the granting of the
exception at this location. Thank you Dave. MI-2020-000
thank you dave uh mi-2020-000285 220-14 east allegheny avenue my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
sorry did you say two two i i put on what the uh mr whalen said that there was a mistake
uh property runs from 2202 to 14 that's correct it doesn't matter we have to stick to what we
have okay okay this is sharon i don't think there's any concern since it falls within that
range within the the same boundaries right yes okay and just to be clear that is the uh the
correct address is on the notice of referral for special exception okay well why don't we
just let me do it i'll do it over again mi-22 excuse me mi-2020-000285
2210 east allegheny avenue my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
okay thank you and to the stenographer we have two more cases you want to take a break now
We have two left?
Okay, I'll try to hang for the two that's left.
Hopefully they're short.
Thank you, board members.
And then we'll take the break.
We'll be able to work the rest of the evening.
Thank you, likewise.
Tanya?
You about to say something?
Oh, okay.
Thank you.
Carol?
Carol, you're muted.
it's the dog again i know calendar number mi 2020 001185 2215 east tioga street
rachel pritzker is the attorney
miss pritzker you have finally been promoted to a panelist thanks you're scary that you need to
yeah um rachel pritzker r-a-c-h-a-e-l p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r 1635 market street suite 1600
Philadelphia PA 19103. Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but
the truth? Yes. Do you also agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy? Yes. And have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
refusal, referral, photos, and or plans of the property five days in advance of the hearing?
Have you also met with the RCO and have a letter? Yes. I'm sorry, court reporter, if I'm going too
quickly okay you may begin okay show my screen oh gosh yeah I know just okay
this is 3215 East Tioga we have the refusal which is for the proposals for
For the erection of a one-story and two-story addition of an existing structure, East Tioga
Street, for a lobby, tenant entrance, and amenity space to the first floor in the same
building with 35 multifamily units from the second floor through third floors with 14
Class A bicycle spaces and an accessible route.
And for the erection of one detached structure at the north end of the property with 12 dwelling
units for the creation of 17 parking spaces. This is a total of 47 dwelling units, all
which fit into the moderate income and workforce housing range. Property is zoned ICMX, and
we were refused for the multifamily use and for the landscaping, screening, and for the
rear yard depth. I'm going to have Scott Woodruff, our architect, present the
plans. I just want to bring note to the zoning maps. As you can see, this is a
corner we front on Tioga, Whitty Street, and Janney Street, and it's this large
ICMX property right on East Tioga. It's an existing warehouse that's been
vacant for quite some time so we're renovating the existing structure adding on a small one-story
addition for amenity space and a lobby and I believe an access ramp and then we're going to
have properties in the rear as well in addition to some landscaping and parking.
properties in the rear as well in addition to some landscaping and parking
as well which you'll see on the plans this is an aerial photo of the site it
sits directly adjacent to a vacant city owned parcel and in the rear are some
single-family homes zoned RSA 5 here's just some visual images of the
warehouse so you can get an idea of the existing conditions and again the plan
is to rehab this structure for multifamily use and add on just a little bit of an addition to
this property and then workforce housing deflexes in the rear of the property. We are providing
landscaping, just not where the Planning Commission requires it for the buffer, but we are providing
it other places. The site makes it a little bit difficult because most of it's existing,
so we're trying to keep in character with the existing site and not rip up too much of the
existing asphalt and parking area we met with Harrogate Civic Association where
we have 11 in support and three opposed so we have a letter of support from
Harrogate which I have in the packet find it Ryan sent me his letter we just
pull up their letter of support. While I'm doing this, Tanya, are you able to have Scott Woodruff
promoted so that he can share a screen just to go through the plans for the board?
Here's our letter.
showing that they are in support. We also are going to be helping the community out
with some of the safety considerations in the neighborhood. They wanted a four-way stop sign
in the intersection of Jani and Tioga, along with some new sidewalks, lighting, filing for
permit parking, and helping get an additional handicap parking space. So we're working with
that separate from this but uh this is really a very nice uh collaboration that we had uh with
the neighborhood and with the owner so with that said i will stop uh sharing my screen and scott
if you can just go through the plans um for the board sure uh don't you be sworn in first yes
Do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing about the truth?
Scott Woodruff, 4001 Main Street, Philadelphia, PA.
So what you're looking at is the zoning site plan.
I just wanted to call attention to the existing two-story warehouse, which is in the corner of Tioga and Woody Street.
uh we are proposing like rachel said a two-story addition at the corner of tioga and jane as well
as a small little one-story portion that kind of fronts back uh next the existing warehouse
and adjacent to those additions we have a large landscape area that will be used for tenant
outdoor space um dogs and kind of just overall gardens we're proposing a bunch of street trees
and kind of landscaping that will go in there we kind of maximize the parking as much as we really
could we're moving the existing curb cut slightly to kind of enhance the accessibility as well as
the amount of parking that we're able to get currently we have 17 proposed parking spaces
for the complex with a two-way curb cut off of woody street towards the rear of the property
um we have six duplexes that are proposed three that front janae street and three that front
uh woody street uh again this will be two units we can walk through those plans shortly but they
will have rear yards as well as an access alley uh to those uh shared parking spaces and this
will all be kind of within the same lot and premises so let me go to
This is a rendering of the proposed front along Tioga Street, again looking at the two-story
addition at the corner, as well as the new access ramp.
There is an existing access ramp on this side, but it is not accessible-compliant, so we're
going to demolish that and make a fully accessible-compliant ramp to the building.
uh against the site plan um the overall plans uh of the project we are proposing mostly one bedrooms
uh of the project we are proposing mostly one bedrooms in the project uh but are kind of keeping
in the project
substantially the existing character of the actual uh building it's a really well kept at the end of
the day warehouse it's just been vacant um and this addition is really served for a new stair
tower as well as just a lobby uh currently uh building doesn't really comply with aggressive
standards this was something that we we had to add bike storage and a small gym
is also proposed on that level
again just units up on the second floor
i'm just kind of looking at the overall massing uh the new additions are shorter than the previous
building um so the existing building is just over 30 feet in height um and we're proposing the new
addition to be to be shorter than that in itself um to try and keep note the existing character
buildings uh these are the duplex units uh workforce units that are at the rear of the
property um that look again more towards the the single family to kind of blend in the uses
between the warehouse multifamily
and the single families that they abut.
And then these are the overall plans for the duplexes.
The first floor is a three-bedroom, two-bath,
and the top floor is a two-bedroom, two-bath.
Again, the goal was for workforce housing in these.
It's also worth just pointing out
that there is probably 23 feet on the Whitty Street side
between our rear property line
and the nearest abutting home
and about 14 feet on the Janney side
from our property line to the nearest abutting home.
So we don't interfere with anybody's light or air
or encroach into any of their lighter air space as well.
yeah and this is the the civil plan that shows that so this this parcel here is not a part of
the proposed project rachel is there anything else you wanted to me to kind of talk about
no um as far as uh like just worth mentioning as far as the planning commission's 2035
comprehensive plan. It specifically mentions the large supply of vacant industrial sites and
recommend zoning relief to encourage adaptive reuse especially around the market Frankfurt
line. We're about a half a mile from that so we do believe that this should blend in nicely with
the city's comprehensive plan and the adaptive reuse of this existing structure and then just
some modifications in order to bring it more to modern standards in addition to providing
workforce housing on the lot. So happy to answer any questions. I'd like to have
the owner of the property, Phil Balderson, just sworn in and adopt my testimony.
Can they raise their hand? Phil, can you raise your hand?
Or if he's not on, Justin Kaplan, the owner's rep.
you say philip yes
okay he can unmute himself hi yes thank you sir good afternoon please identify yourself
spell your name for the record please philip balderston uh philip balderston b-a-l-d-e-r-s-t-o-n
i'm the managing member of the owner thank you you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole
truth and nothing but the truth i do please proceed phil have you heard my testimony presented
in front of the board today i have and do you adopt it as your own i do happy to answer any
questions that the board may have thank you any questions from the board no
no commission anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
have william bennett william you can unmute yourself and wait to be sworn in
good afternoon mr bennett please spell you please identify yourself give us your first
and last name. Spell your last name.
William Bennett
B-E-N-N-E-T-T
Your address?
W-I-T-T-E Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
philadelphia pennsylvania 19134 and you swear and affirm to tell the truth the whole truth
You swear and affirm to tell the truth.
nothing but the truth yes i do thank you please proceed okay um i met with the owner about the
project here because i'm right next well next to the uh they get mine anyway um my biggest question
state promised to adjust it was the parking situation and they said they
will work along with us. Are you asking the question as to what the final are
you asking a question or just tell you what okay all right so it's part of the
record thank you yeah anyone else wish to testify just to respond to mr bennett because he's been
very helpful with this um we we have the 17 parking spaces but we're also working with him
and the neighbors to secure some um ppa designated parking in addition to um you know being considerate
of you know the handicapped spot in some of his uh home and making sure to put another one in just
so that there's additional parking.
Okay, thank you.
Anyone else?
Thank you, Planning Commission.
This is Dave Munson with the Planning Commission.
This property is listed as industrial commercial mixed use
on the comprehensive plan.
This is a part of the Port Richmond
industrial preservation area
and the opposing residential conversions in this area.
Accordingly, we object to the granting of the variance at this location.
Thank you.
He said he had the object?
MI-2020-001185-2215 East Tioga.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
My vote is yes.
my vote is yes thank you good luck calendar number mi 2020 001184 2426 frankfurt avenue
and that's still you yeah name and address i'm sorry why you were there smiling
name and address for the record yep rachel r-a-c-h-a-e-l-p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r pritzker
1635 Market Street Suite 1600 Philadelphia PA 19103. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole
truth and nothing but the truth? Yes. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? Yes. And have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required documents which
are proof of ownership, tax compliance, refusal, referral, photos, plans five days in advance of
this hearing, and have you met with the RCO? And do you have a letter? Yes. Thank you. You may
proceed. Okay. Share my screen again. This is for 2426 Frankfurt Avenue. We are proposing a tattoo
parlor on the first floor of an existing structure with all other uses previously approved. The
property is zoned CMX2. We were refused for body art services, tattoo, and the
location of it within 500 feet of protected uses and 500 feet of
residential district. What are the days and hours of operation? Can I
bring on my client? He'll be able to answer all those. Sure. Or his mom who's
also uh part of the project uh tanya do you see either giacomo giovanetti or sarah giovanetti
yes he can unmute himself and wait to be sworn in thank you hello yes can you put your name and
address on the record uh yes it's uh giacomo giovanetti um did you want me to write that
down in uh the chat i think you should spell it oh absolutely okay it's do you want me to say it
or do you want me to write it down in the chat spell it it's g-i-a-c-o-m-o and then my last
name is giovanetti g-i-o-v like victor i-n-s is nancy e-t-t-i uh mr chair i think this is the
most Italian name we've ever had. Yeah, my full name is Giacomo Lorenzo Antonio
Giudanetti, so it's...
Okay, he is her witness, but he is also the person trying to get a tattoo parlor on the first floor.
He is her witness, but he is also the...
Can we just hear him real quick?
Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Okay, thank you.
Giacomo, can you please state what the hours of operation will be for this business?
it would be from 12 to 9 p.m. seven days a week um probably I would say like about five
five days out of the week so I have some rest days to work on the business okay what do you
do with all the sharps and the oh so we have a we have a sharps container and then we reach out
to a company that disposes them for us how frequently um about twice a year
twice a year that's standard for the industry i believe okay
the space i'll show you is very small so it's not going to be a high volume um shop it's not
as like one of the larger ones. It's by appointment only?
Jack, is it by appointment only I would assume? It's only by appointment. So as you can see the
storefront, it's a really small studio space. It just has a studio space for the tattooing
and the bathroom. So there's not a lot of room for a ton of people. And again, it will be
appointment only. Okay, Rachel, have you met with the RCO? Yep, we met with the RCO, which was the
East Kensington Neighbors Association. We also met with the Fishtown Business District. They
reached out and asked for us to meet with them as well, so we did. We have letters of support from
both organizations that I'm going to bring up on the screen. There also are a number of properties
nearby that have obtained variances. So this is the space just so you can get some context of
the actual site and how small the space is. Okay, what is it, what is it near? Because I know there's
at 500 foot there is a church i believe um like further down and there is an elementary school
that's like two blocks over a block and a half over um but there's no intention to tattoo
children or let any children in this shop and the neighbors felt given the kind of the context in
the area that there were other similar businesses and they'd had no issues with them especially
given the small size of this site as well. So you had okays from East Kensington and Fishtown
Business District? Yep so right here you can see they approved to support the application without
provisos. This is from the Fishtown District and then here is from ECNA, the East Kensington
Neighbor Association, where there was 16 in support, six opposed and five abstained. So we have a letter
of support. We also, Giacomo, walked around to all the neighboring businesses and got a petition of
support from the businesses that are located as well okay um do you want to ask your client to
adopt your testimony yes jack have you heard my testimony presented in front of the board today
yes and do you adopt it as your own yes any questions for either of us a question from the
board no no anyone else wish to testify on this
matter please raise your hand
no hands thank you planning commission sorry
I guess this is a relative you're raising your hand
that's his mom I believe no disrespect we are running late
um that's fine if it's really that important
uh planning commission this is dave munson with the planning commission this property is listed
as commercial mixed use on the comprehensive we feel that this use does not pose any negative
impacts to the surrounding area accordingly we have no objection to the granting of the
variants at this location. Thank you. MI-2020-001184-2426
Frankfurt Avenue. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes. My vote is yes.
My vote is yes. Thank you. Giacomo, apologize to your mom. We're running late.
Okay, it is now 4.48. We've got to take a break. Five after five.
Thank you. Thank you. It is now 448
Okay. Can I just ask that you check your email before starting the 3.30 session?
Yes, I just sent you an okay. I did read it and we'll go through it. Okay.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Carol?
Thank you.
Carol, are you back?
She's probably looking for it.
She probably went house shopping.
Looking for a new home.
another one such a smart ally i actually went to get a tattoo good good all right house shopping
um okay everyone everyone ready tanya yes chair sharing everybody's on yes sir okay let's we're
live correct abby yes we are thank you uh carol uh after i read this the opening statement
i'll go through that list that sharon sent us did you see that list
i thought we already went through it was it in the most no this is for the 330 list
i'll read it through all right yeah numbers numbers two and six yes i'll i'll read through
those and then we'll get into whatever cases are left to be heard okay okay thank you okay
well good afternoon everyone my name is frank di chico i'm the chair of the zoning board of
adjustment i'll be participating in today's hearing along with our vice chair miss carol
Tenere, Board Secretary Confessor Plaza and Board Members Mr. Thomas Holloman and Mr. James Snell.
Board Administrator Tanya Sunken and Board Attorney Sharon Saleta are also in attendance.
For those of you who haven't yet participated in our virtual hearings, I'll go through some of the
basics of what you can expect. First, we will be administering oaths to individuals prior
participants prior to their testimony. Second, for the benefit of anyone
participating by phone, we ask that attorneys and witnesses identify
themselves prior to speaking or testifying. Third, we'd like to advise
everyone that this proceeding is being recorded and that by participating you
acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. Fourth, for anyone participating
by phone, if you wish to testify, you must raise your hand by hitting star 9 and then star 6 to
unmute yourself. I'll repeat. For anyone participating by phone, if you wish to testify,
you must raise your hand by hitting star 9 and then star 6 to unmute yourself. Finally,
To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue.
I'll repeat that as well.
To enter an appearance statement, call Google 267-270-5548 and leave your email address
and the address of the property at issue.
With that said, we can begin, but before Ms. Tenere calls the first case, we'd like to ask if anyone is requesting a continuance or withdrawal.
We'd like to ask if anyone is requesting a continuance or withdrawal of an appeal listed for this afternoon's hearing session.
And while I'm waiting to see if hands go up, I will report that MI-2020-000267, 2100 McGee Street is being continued.
MI-2020-000221 3510 K Street is being continued.
And again, while we're waiting, I have a question
for mi-2020-000336 3128 west montgomery avenue uh we have not yet received any exhibits
yes ma'am i have that request continued to continue by the owner okay that's make that's
Good. So MI-2020-000336, 3128 West Montgomery is continued.
I have a similar question.
Do we have exhibits for MI-2020-000372, 6220 King Sessing Avenue?
if anyone is on uh on this excuse me if anyone is on uh we need exhibits if you haven't already
submitted those we do not have them in our file so we have joseph vaccaro you can meet yourself
and speak to a continuance mr vicaro please spell your name v-a-c-c-a-r-o your address
5918 torresdale avenue philadelphia pa 19135 and uh do you swear to firm to tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth yes i do uh please proceed thank you uh may it please the
board. My name is Joseph Vaccaro, attorney for the applicant, Abu Bakar Odebisi. I have spoken
with Mr. Craig Melodosian of the relevant RCO earlier this week, and we still have to schedule
a meeting with the RCO on this matter. It's my understanding that a continuous was going to be
requested on this on this okay we'll make that part of the record now so mi-2020-000
372-6220 king sessing avenues continued thank you thank you uh do i just need to state um
check the file for the new date yes okay thank you very much have a good day you do likewise um
the two coral street uh let me read those if i can find them
um i don't know that you need to do anything with those you read the
vote into the record this morning i let the attorney know that it wasn't necessary to
be here okay so i don't need to read them in okay and the other one let's say i did two six
seven and nine and lambert street yeah coming up to that let's continue uh the lambert street case
we held this morning um yes you're voting that one that was you were just waiting for me to confirm
that you had the documents that you needed right so we have the documents and we can go forward
with that case correct you can um vote it yes yes vote or listen we have testimony no you're
just voting this one right because we already heard it this morning okay i'm gonna make sure
all right no it isn't excuse me i'm sorry just so you know it isn't the one from this morning
you heard this last week um oh i'm sorry there was a lambert this morning there was yes okay
okay all right so calendar number 39599 6569 lambert street my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
okay uh carol i think we can proceed with number one
on our list mead street 211 east mead street got it calendar number mi 2020
000 283 211 east mead street and it's my understanding that the property owners were not aware that
And it's my understanding that the property owners were not aware that their architect would not be able to testify on their behalf.
And they are a little concerned because it's their first time.
We can assure you, we're easy to get along with.
So, Carol, you can get them to identify themselves and square them in.
Okay. Excuse me. I have explained to them that the architect can present the details of the construction, since he is a fact witness to that.
Right.
Can the owners put your name and address on the record? I guess that would be Julia Sarkisian and Nina Eskridge.
Yes. Yes. Hi.
Hi, ladies. Just spell your first and last name for the record.
Okay, so Juliet Sarkeesian, that's J-U-L-I-E-T.
Last name is S like in Sam, A-R-K-E, S like in Sam, S again, I-A, and like in Nancy.
And your address?
That's 211 East Mead Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19118.
All right, Carol, and you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, I do.
And this is my wife, Nina Eskridge.
She's the co-owner of the property.
Should she take her name as well?
If she's testifying.
No, she doesn't need to testify.
Okay, you've got a break today.
By the way, I'm a lawyer, so I'm not really sure why I'm so nervous about this.
I just don't do anything before the zoning board.
That's okay.
You're safe.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So I understand that we should be making a statement that we are the owners of 211 East Mead Street in Chestnut Hill.
We are requesting a variance to put on a very small addition that would continue an existing non-performing condition.
Let me ask you this. You met with the RCO?
yes that's the chestnut hill community
do you have any documents any exhibits you can share with us
well they sent a letter to you they sent the same letter twice
um the last time was september 24th and we do have that we have a letter of
support from the rco in the file okay okay and uh i don't know
And very quickly, do you have any floor plans or anything, any architectural plans you can share with us?
My architect has everything.
My understanding is that he had already sent those in.
Is he not allowed to speak?
No, he can speak.
Let me make it life easier.
We got no letters of opposition, correct?
No, absolutely not.
We got some in support.
any questions from the board no no anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your
hand no hands thank you planning commission
good afternoon chairperson members of the board my name is ariel de liberto
that's a-r-i-e-l-d-i-l-i-b-e-r-t-o. You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth? I do. Can I confirm that we're talking about 211 East Mead Street?
Yes. Okay. So this property is indicated for a single family use in the city's comprehensive
plan. We believe that the proposed dimensional variance will not negatively impact nearby
properties accordingly we do not object to the granting of this variance thank you very much
mi-2020-000283 211 east mead street my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes
my vote is yes ladies come back come back soon thank you thank you thank you good luck to you
good luck to you calendar number mi 2020 000 371 2146 north uber street
rachel pritzker
there you are again name and address for the record please rachel r-a-c-h-a-e-l pritzker p-r-i-t-z-k-e-r
Yes, sir. Rachel, R-A-C-H-A-E-L, Pritzker, P-R-I-T-Z-K-E-R, 1635 Market Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA-19103.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you agree to wave and stip?
Have you also sent the email packet in with proof of ownership, tax clearance, copy of the refusal or referral, photos, plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing?
and if you've met with the RCO, do you have a letter?
Okay, you may proceed.
Okay, I'm going to share my screen.
This is 2146 Uber.
This was for the erection of an addition above an existing attached structure
with a roof deck and for roof deck access structure,
and are we were refused for multifamily household living and for the required
open space we're proposing 21.8 instead of 25 so it's a difference of about 40
square feet this is an existing structure that's located on the 2100
buck of North uber Street let me get to the photos of it as you can see it's
right next to the corner of north uber and 21st street and very close to cmx1 and rm1 properties
it's a better image of it aerial photos
more aerial photos this is the existing building as you can see it's not in the best shape
But it is a pretty large structure next to a vacant lot and on a block that has some
mixed use as well.
We met with the RCO, which was the 32nd Democratic Ward, and we have a letter of support from
There was 30 plus people at this meeting and they were supportive of the project and the
addition to it, which is just providing some additional modification of the property for a
more modern living standard. And if we don't build the addition flush with the second and third
floor, it would kind of be odd shaped in the back. So we're trying to keep in consistency with the
existing structure. So we're just asking for a little additional 40 square feet. And the community
group did not have any issues um with this project we also my client went and door knocked and
discussed the project with most of the near neighbors and there was a petition of support
as well and they were supportive of the multi-family use although this is an rsa5 lot as
it will bring you know more affordable housing to the neighborhood and the additional density will
help um you know drive some hopeful additional rehabilitation to this site um so i have doug
depth on the line who is my client I would like to swear him in and happy to
answer any questions that the board has and these are just the plans so the
board can see where the addition is going to be in this structure and we're
gonna repair obviously the facade enhance it with a nice bay window and
add the roof deck and pilot house as well so that there's some outdoor space
for all the units. Tanya, do you see Doug? Yes, he can unmute himself to speak. Hi, yes, this is
Doug Depp. How are you? Thank you for having me. Good afternoon, sir. Please identify yourself.
Name and address. Yes, my name is, my first, my full name is Larry, L-A-R-R-Y. Middle name is
which I go by Douglas, D-O-U-G-L, like Larry, A-S, last name Depp.
I'll spell it for you.
It's like the abbreviation for department with the E at the end.
It says D like Doug, E like Eddie, P like Peter, T like Tom, E like Eddie.
And I'm a junior.
You swear and affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?
Doug, have you heard my testimony in front of the board today?
yes i have do you adopt it as your own yes i do we're happy to answer any questions that the
board may have absolutely any questions from the board no no no
one else wish to testify in this matter if so please raise your hand
no hands at this time i just have one question rachel you said it's a mixed use block
no hands at this time i just have one question rachel you said it's a
yeah i believe there's some other properties on this block that have
multi-family use it's right across from a lot of rm1 as well so it might have been originally
um rm1 it's also got some commercial um on the corner if i go back to the zoning map um
It's okay. I just...
Yeah, I have it in my memo, the list of the other multifamilies.
But typically on blocks like this that are across from RM1,
they tend to have multifamily as well.
Yeah, so we have...
Just for the record, we have it here.
2008, 2015, 2017, 2041,
they're all two and three family dwellings 2100 block as well okay yep 2100 yep all right thank
you planning commission property is indicated for single family use in the city's comprehensive plan
there are no unique physical characteristics peculiar to the property to support a claim
of hardship accordingly we object to the granting of the variance could i just ask
Miss DiBerto you put your name in unit yes sorry Ariel DiLiberto Philadelphia City Planning
Commission thank you um put my paper away uh mi-2020-000371 2146 uber north uber street my
vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank
you good luck calendar number mi 2020-000 288 5820 Wakefield Street
I don't know if there's an attorney with this, but it's an application for a permit for the erection of a rear addition not to exceed 38 feet to an existing structure for use as a single-family household living.
I believe it's Leo Mulvihill.
Oh, okay.
Thanks, Sharon.
You're welcome.
Good evening, everyone.
Hi, Leo. Can you put your name and address on the record, please?
Certainly. It's Leo Mulvihill, M-U-L, V as in Victor, I-H-I-L-L.
Address for this one, 2424 East York Street, Suite 111, Philadelphia 19125.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
And do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
okay i'm trying to connect because i'm low on my battery do you have all the required exhibits with
you yes everything was submitted on time except the community letter which i believe was sent
late friday independently i do have it attached to my exhibit packet now though
with respect to this project okay please proceed it's a letter in support
My client was also on the line earlier for the 3.30 hearings.
He has two young kids and unfortunately had to hop off because of the delay.
So good evening, members of the board.
I'm here to represent Edward Pleasant, who's the owner-occupant at 5820 Wakefield Street.
What Edward's trying to do is renovate this house that he purchased some time ago.
He's doing it piecemeal.
And because he has a growing family, including two young daughters, one of whom is a few years old and the other who's only recently born,
what he wants to do is put a small extension on the rear of his home.
This lot is so small it already falls under the seven-foot rear yard exception under the zoning code.
So what he's done is proposed that we have an addition that's done on the back.
So he has a seven-foot rear yard at the ground level, but on the second floor level, he has a bump out.
So that brings the open space to the sky of the rear yard to only five feet.
That's the only reason we're here today.
For purposes of the record, I have the refusal, appeal, and project information form at page
one of my packet, currently on the screen.
Area zoning maps at page seven.
This is an RSA5 zoning district.
The client's deed is at eight.
Tax information is at page 12.
We were having some issues with the tax clearance program for the city, but I do have what was
an outstanding balance that was showing.
For the purpose of the record, it was variating between $300 owed and $88 owed.
So there's a receipt that I included showing my client paid the $300-some just to ensure.
So there's a receipt that I included showing my client paid the $300-some just to ensure
that we could get that all taken care of.
I have a notification letter and proof of mailing at page 14.
I have four pages of signed petition of support from the neighbors.
And at page 17, you'll note the RCO letter.
I have asterisks because I didn't have it at the time of packet submission.
I have added that to the end of the zoning packet after the drawings.
Photos of the property and the surrounding environment is at page 21.
Plans are at page 39. So members of the board, what I'll do is pull up first the area zoning map to the left of your screen. It's all yellow. It's all RSA 5. Overhead, you can see the shot that I pulled from Philadelphia Atlas. It's a residential block. It's mostly full. There are a couple of houses that have been knocked down, including a vacant lot directly to my client's right of this property.
we can see here what i was talking about members of the board at page 12
uh it showed that there was a small balance to with 268 58 what we have here to the left at page
13 is the proof of payment my client made as soon as that was made as he was made aware of the
issue a notification letter is at page 14 on the screen proof of mailing is at page 16
what I'm showing now are pages 17 and 18 adjacent neighbors signing a document supporting
my client's proposal two more pages at 19 and 20
21 and 22 on the screen you can see to the left page 20 my client's property with the particular
notices posted in the window as well as permits for other construction he's been doing inside
page 23 is a shot looking towards price street and some additional photos of the surrounding
blocks as i continue to peruse through those so it's a two-story house just like everything else
is next to it what i think is important note members of the board now looking to
page 32 here so to the left members of the board that's my client's rear yard as it currently
exists to the right. That's the property directly. There's a vacant house and then the other house
that's next to that. You can see the approximate size of the rear yard of that house is about five
feet, if not less. That's what we're looking for in this case as well. These are photographs looking
down the block from Price Street, noting specifically that house on the corner, which is seen on the
left in orange stucco. I took another photograph of that. It's on the right of the page. You can
see that's about a five foot rear yard there as well. Page 35, which is to the left of the screen
right now, members of the board, is a panoramic view of the entire block. It's difficult to see
because of this CMU wall, which surrounds a parking lot to a church next door. But taking a
look at all the houses down the block, you can see many of them do have shed additions and have
rear yards that are about five feet already. To the right of the photo is that orange stucco home
that I showed in the previous photographs, which also has about a five-foot rear yard.
Page 36 is the interior of the house looking to the front. 37 is the back room of the house right
now. Like I said, it's under construction. He lives there with a couple kids who generally
spend their time upstairs, so it's a little messy. Page 38 is the kitchen. What I have here now up
on the screen, members of the board of the actual plans. At this point, I'll go one page up so we
see what we're talking about you can see in the dark gray is the existing two-story structure
my client's lot is about 39 feet deep we're proposing to add this small addition to the
rear of the property six and six foot two and a half inches which leaves a five foot rear yard
on the second story of the structure zoom in here so you have a better idea as to what's going on
so looking to the absolute right of this next page for purposes of the record this is page 40
the first floor edition seen here at the bottom of the screen which i'm circling with my mouse
cursor seven foot rear yard it's only i'll go to the next page there we go it's only the second
story edition that's creating our open air issue. So as we see, we have this bump out here, which
is pretty common on second story editions. So because the distance from the rear of this bump
out to the CMU wall is only five feet, that's the only reason we have our refusal.
Oh no.
So what I have here now, members of the board, which is the last page of the packet, it is
unnumbered because I had to drop this in after I'd already submitted the packet, but it's for all
intents and purposes, page 46. And Ms. Inez Love of Faith Community CDC had forwarded this to the
zoning board already. We held a meeting with them last week. Initially, no one in the neighborhood
showed up for the meeting. Ms. Love would not conduct the meeting without anyone present. So
Ms. Love would not conduct the meeting without anyone present.
So my client actually walked around the block, grabbed two neighbors to come out who were still hanging out in the block, heard our presentation, and they voted in support.
my client actually walked around the block.
So as a result, we had this letter of support from Faith Community CDC as well.
As I said before, unfortunately, my client wasn't able to stay on the line this late due to taking care of his two kids.
but I verified that everything I said is true and he wants to keep fixing on working on this
house for a while and provide nice home with a little bit more space for his kids and that's
the only reason we're here today the hardship in this case is that the lot's small the house is
small we did our best to comply with reasonable open air requirements and rear yard requirements
but this is not outside of the character of the block it will not harm any adjacent neighbors
and the neighbors and RCO are fully in support of this project I'm happy to
answer any questions that you and they have at this time any questions from the
board no anyone else wish to testify in this case if so please raise your hand
no hands thank you planning Commission good evening this is Ariel DiLiberto
from the philadelphia city planning commission this property is indicated for a single family
use in the city's comprehensive plan the property is undersized which restricts the owner's ability
to expand in strict conformance with the zoning code accordingly we have no objection to the
granting of the variance thank you mi-2020-0002885820 wakefield street my vote is yes
my vote is yes my vote is yes my vote is yes thank you my vote is yes thank you all all right
thank you members of the board have a great evening you do likewise is that complete our
list that's it we are done all right any other any other unfinished business
um not really no that's good doesn't have to i'm not asking for it i just want
Thank you Cherise for everything
Thank you Cherise
Have a good one everyone
Take care
Have a good weekend