neighborhood. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Have a good day. We're going to move on. We have 15 other
cases. Any questions? Yes, the board planning commission. Good afternoon, board. Peter Bernard
for the planning commission. Peter, do you swear in the firm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth I do thank you please proceed this property is indicated for multi-family
residential in the comprehensive plan and has not yet been remapped the applicant has worked
with the planning commission staff to amend the proposal to fit within the recommended zoning
and add a green roof accordingly we recommend approval of the variance
with the proviso that the project is limited to 26 units
Ron, do you have revised plans?
I do, Mr. Chairman.
They're in my exhibit package 11 and 12.
Two pages, correct.
two pages correct mi 2021-000 i'm sorry three pages i'm sorry okay mi 2021-00046815 west
rittenhouse my vote is yes with the proviso revised plan three pages approved today
maximum number of units to be 26 my vote is yes with proviso yes with proviso
yes with proviso thank you we can go back to number one calendar number zero one three two
one one nine three four stevens road you're welcome that the attorney is michael phillips
michael phillips has been promoted to panelist
thank you mr phillips can you put your name and address on the record there you are good afternoon
michael phillips 1500 market street suite 3400 philadelphia pa 19102 here on behalf
and capital partners.
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 agree to waive the reading,
but I do not stipulate to the accuracy
as we believe there is one variance listed
or one refusal listed that is incorrect.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet
with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
refusal or referral,
photos and or plans of the property
five days in advance of this hearing?
and have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter?
Thank you.
You may proceed.
I'm just going to share my screen.
Again, good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Here on behalf of AIN Capital Partners,
which is the owner of 11934 Stevens Road, which is located in the far northeast, the
Somerton section of Philadelphia. This case was actually before the board last two years ago,
of May 2019, at which time the board did approve an eight-unit plan for this large, over-an-acre
parcel. But after that hearing, Councilman Brian O'Neill did request reconsideration,
and at a reconsideration hearing, the plan was refused, leading to an appeal by the applicant.
We are now here with a reduced version, a seven-unit plan that I will take everybody through
and describe the changes and go through a little bit of the historical context of this large site.
I do want to note this is the refusal. We disagree with the minimum side yard setback
refusal. It's noted as 16 feet, whereas we are providing 8 feet, 1 1⁄4 inch. The zoning code
actually provides for two 8-foot side yards in the RSA 2 zoning district for detached
intermediate lots, detached properties on intermediate lots, which we have here. However,
this parcel is zoned RSA 2 and as you'll see in the plan, which I will take you just through
the zoning plan right now, this is this large parcel right here
off of Stevens Road. This area right here that is undeveloped was the proposed Woodhaven Road
extension that was supposed to come down, intersect Busselton, and lead south. Now that
is one of the hardships that we're encountering because on this large parcel, only this area
highlighted in green is developable. This area right here is subject to a right-of-way
from PennDOT and it's been that way since 1973. So instead we have this large 44,000
square foot parcel that's zoned RSA 2. So by right we can only construct one single
So by right, we can only construct one single family home.
family home. Further, we can't subdivide
Further, we can't subdivide this parcel because RSA 2 requires 35 feet of lot frontage.
We only have 53 feet, so we cannot even bisect this into two.
But what you'll see and what we'll take you through in the plans is that what we are proposing
is actually a much less dense development than anything in the surrounding vicinity as you
look on this side of the Woodhaven extension. So we did meet with the community. We had a
virtual meeting and presentation and had a series of question and answer
sessions and we provided comprehensive answers to our plans into why this seven unit scheme is the
least dense scheme that is even remotely viable. Now, we represented about two years ago that the
eight-unit scheme was the least amount of homes to make it economically viable, and that's still
true. This I'll refer to as kind of our break-even plan. Clients have resigned, and as they'll
testify, they're not even looking to make a profit here. They're just looking to cut their losses,
understanding that this seven-unit plan could be the best that they'll be able to do.
So quickly show you the plan. This is Stevens Road and this is the proposed
Woodhaven Road extension that never happened. Byberry Road would be to the
north. Busselton is over here to the west. I'll zoom in a bit so you can see
exactly what we're proposing. I'll go through the prior iterations of the plan as well.
But there are seven homes with a setback of 72 feet off of Stevens Road, so you wouldn't really
even see these. Each of the homes has parking. There are 12 parking spaces total that are proposed.
One of two of the homes actually just have one car parking, the rest have two car parking.
There was a 22 to 26 foot shared driveway that leads off of Stevens Road into each of the homes.
This area that is hashed here is the right of way that's undevelopable and that will remain undeveloped open land.
So this really is all that we can develop on.
The other refusal we received was for rear yard, 20 feet required.
We're proposing a little over 15 feet.
There is nothing over here to our west that's another part of an isolated, landlocked lot that is owned by PennDOT right now.
We have a number of petitions of support and emails of support.
If you look at the Somerton Civic Association letter, it's referenced that of the 49 emails
and petitions and support that were received, those individuals were not a member of Somerton
Civic Association. And I want to point out a key distinction. It's not that they are not
residents of Somerton. They are. However, to be a member of the Civic Association, you must pay
$5 a year to the Civic Association of Dues, and then you're entitled to vote. However,
these are all residents within the boundaries of Somerton. And if you include them in the
overall vote, it would be 51 in favor, 21 in support. Repeat that. You said 51 in favor and
21 in support. I mean, and 21 opposed. Excuse me. Okay. Thank you. Sorry about that. So this is
what the lot looks like right now. It's vacant, overgrown, blighted land. Zoom this photo in a bit.
Take you through. This is now looking towards Byberry Road and then this is looking down
Stevens Road and you'll see there are twin homes all along Stevens Road and here's just another
more recent posting photo. So as I mentioned earlier we only have this section of the property
that's developable because of the PennDOT right-of-way the area highlighted here so we would
come off Stevens Road right here and the houses would all be you know set back significantly from
you know, setback significantly from the front. Historically, this is what the area looked like
front. Historically,
in 1962 when we had the proposed Woodhaven Road extension that was to come here. Really nothing
is developed yet, you know, in the near vicinity. It was mostly farmland. Once you then
go to 1996, though, you'll see that the area in Stevens Road has been developed up. Here is
the centennial development, and so things are starting to fill in, but here it's still large
and vacant because this is all encumbered by PennDOT's right-of-way, or PennDOT has taken title to this
land and this is you know 2008 what it looks like. Now initially when we went before the community
we were modeling our density off of Centennial which is this development here
and so we we proposed an 18 unit scheme based upon that you know based upon that density.
I'll also just show you everything in green is owned by PennDOT so that's why you know there's
nothing to the rear behind us even across the street this is all undeveloped. So we initially
proposed this 18 unit plan and I'll zoom in a bit here just to show you where we've been and
and then where we've come. There were nine twins that were being proposed. The first one was
running on Stevens Road. And then as you go back, each of these would have one car parking.
And there was significant feedback from the community as it related to the density,
the width of the drive aisle, the setbacks. So we went back and proposed a 14-unit plan that
significantly widened the drive aisle, created a fire truck turnaround radius, and eliminated
some of the density, pushed the buildings off the property line. And this is what we presented
initially to the board. At the hearing, we were asked to see what is the least amount that we
can do here to be economically viable, and that's where we came up with this eight-unit plan,
which now instead of twins were all single-family homes, again, all set off, and the proposal at
the time was approximately 5,300 square feet of lot area per home. By contrast, the RSA2 zoning
district requires 3,150 square feet. And if you look in the surrounding vicinity, that's really
the average of the RSA2 homes. It's actually a bit greater. It's about 4,000. And we have a
detailed analysis of the lot size that was done. Here, if you look just at the
homes on Stevens Road, they're all 3,500 to 4,000 square feet. Here's the
average and the median. We even expanded that further and you see this is us at
44,248. You'll see everything, you know, is between 4,000, 3,000 square feet. And that's
the density really that we're looking at. So now with our seven unit plan, this would
be 6,321 square feet per home on the plan. So again, this is less dense. It's a low impact
development we're proposing 12 parking spaces uh and and this is in uh in line with everything you
see in the uh surrounding community uh here are some of the elevations that we're looking at for
uh the homes and they're all fashioned to single-family homes with uh with parking the
homes vary in size from 31 feet to 33 feet all below the 38 feet permitted under the zoning code
go through a few more renderings, what they'll look like. I'm not sure if the architect had
an issue that came up and might not be able to be here, Anthony Masso, but if he's not here,
I don't believe his testimony is crucial to understanding the plan and the development.
But again, these are the homes.
So we, in response to this, the community has still said they oppose.
We, in response to this, the community has still said they oppose. They said that they'll, we can build one home, maybe do two homes, but that's simply just not viable here. This is a 44,000 square foot developable piece of land.
They said that they'll...
My client provided detailed responses to Somerton Civic about why this is the least dense project that would be viable.
And it goes to carrying costs, demolition costs, construction costs.
And at this seven-unit plan, it truly is break-even.
So the options here are either seven-unit plant or nothing, or this is what the property continues to look like, because beyond what we're showing, there's really nothing else we can do.
And I, again, want to focus on the surrounding area and the context, and I'll just show one more photo before calling up my clients.
Here are the homes along Stevens Road that I pointed at earlier.
This is the centennial development.
Again, we would be less dense than everything in the surrounding vicinity.
We would be pushed back 72 feet from the street.
We would provide parking.
One-to-one is required under the code.
We'd be at 1.75 to one.
So there would be no adverse impact to the community.
Instead, what they would be is replacing this vacant, blighted lot where, you know, individuals, teenagers can go party and they drink and who knows what there.
We'd be replacing that with seven homes and some taxpayers who would add to the community and would enhance the surrounding community.
uh i want to see a call my clients i have uh eugene umansky who is here uh if he's available
just to testify
hey mike i'm here okay
please identify yourself with a record spell your first last name uh yes it's eugene umansky
E-U-G-E-N-E
last name U-M-A
N-S-K-Y
Do you swear and affirm
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Eugene, you heard
my presentation
a moment ago.
Would you agree that
everything I stated is true and accurate?
Do you agree to adopt my testimony
as your own? I do.
And I just have two brief questions for you. The first is, can you just explain to the board
the process that you've undertaken over the past two years to try to come up with
a viable plan for this large lot? Yes, certainly. So as Michael mentioned,
You know, we were, we've been probably in this project now and working on this pre-development for, I don't know, I want to say it's over three years.
We've been in front of Somerton three, four times maybe, Mike, is that correct?
And, you know, we've brought numerous plant options.
We started with a more dense plant, twins, which is what this community mostly has.
I grew up in this area.
We scaled it back after hearing concerns about how dense it was for this parcel.
I know some parking concerns, extra traffic, things like that.
We scaled it back several times.
We stayed with the twin construction on the first couple iterations.
And then we went to single family to accommodate an even less dense development.
Obviously, when we went to a single family plan, the homes themselves got a little bit larger, but, you know, parking need and things like that did get did get smaller.
We accommodated bringing a home, the first home further away from from Stevens.
Can you hear me? OK, I hear something in some feedback.
Someone has has like voices in the background, people talking.
or radio or television is on?