and looking at inability to use it as the commercial space.
We totally understand the councilman's position
and the RCO's positions.
They're essentially saying that they feel that this building
at its location, I'm sorry, I'm going to use the pictures better to show.
They're saying that this building at this location,
because there are stores located up and down Haverford Avenue,
that a commercial use here would not be really consistent.
that a commercial use here would not be really consistent with what they would like to see.
And they just don't want to see more grocery store or grocery candy type store. They don't
feel that it is a benefit to the neighborhood. And they also know that my client owns another
store already nearby. And therefore, they feel that if he already has a store, why would he need
a second store? So it's a competition issue as far as they're concerned. So do you feel that
it would be beneficial at all to go back to the community. My client is here with us. I think he
indicated he does feel there are neighbors who already frequent his store that does support him.
We decided to move forward partly because I was unable to get updated information regarding
support from my client at the time that the exhibits were due. So we decided to go ahead
and submit. I don't know if things have changed. I think he is here with us. Maybe he can shed
light on whether a continuous would benefit him. Okay, because we also don't have a letter
from the 44th Democratic Ward Achievability Parkside Association West Philly together.
So on my own, I think I'm going to continue this case.
Understood. Okay, thank you.
Madam Chair. Yes, Tanya. Would you like to do a resumption?
Um, okay. That seems to be the best thing. Since it was basically presented and we just
need feedback from them, we can do June the 14th. Okay. That sounds good. I'm sorry. I'm at the
wrong calendar. Is that June 2nd? June 9th, I'm sorry. June 9th at 3.30. Okay, great. Thank you,
Mr. Chin. Have a nice night. Thank you. I just want to point out that the RCO may not be willing
to meet with us again, but I will update at the resumption hearing. Okay, great. Thank you. As a
final technical issue, I don't believe 1127 Lee Street should be my case if the board could
kindly look into that as well. So if you could contact me regarding that, it would be great.
And Mr. Zinjin, if I could request, although this is a resumption hearing and typically no
posting is required, I would request that we repost because of the nature of this here case.
Understood. Thank you kindly. Thank you. Thank you. Next case, calendar number 0116-2055
North 2nd Street. The attorney is John Griffin.
If I share, I'm not showing Mr. Griffin, unless he's done a different device.
Okay, I'll go to the next case. Calendar number 3225-2241 North 15th Street. The attorney is Alan
Nockamson. Mr. Nockamson has been promoted to panel. Good evening. Can you put your name and
address on the record and spell your last name, please? Yes, good evening, Madam Vice Chair,
members of the board. My name is Alan Nockamson, A-L-A-N. Last name is Nockamson, N-O-C-H-U-M-S-O-N.
Address is 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia, PA, 19109.
Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Do you also agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance, photos,
plans, refusal or referral 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 proceed.
May I share my screen? Sure you may.
So I'm here to present, sorry, 2241 North 15th Street.
You'll see my traditional packet of materials.
We'll start.
Well, you'll see the deed.
The property is owned by Harry Hawkins.
He actually purchased the property, you'll see, from the estate of his aunt.
This property has been in the family since 1980.
His family, Mr. Hawkins' family, has lived in this part of North Philly or in North Philly since the 1950s.
So I'm going to go here, show you the deed that's owned by Mr. Hawkins.
So I'm going to go here.
I'll show you the deed that's owned by Mr. Hawkins.
You'll see after that the Certificate of Tax Clearance showing that Mr. Hawkins is in good standing with the City of Philadelphia with respect to the real estate taxes.
He just paid his tax bill. It was due last month.
After that, you'll see the Notice of Refusal.
So this is a RSA 5 property that's over 1,500 square feet, the lot size. The building structure is over 2,500 square feet. And again, this is an RSA 5 property. This property has been used as a multifamily structure since 1951.
Here, you'll see that what we're trying to do is really just restore the use of his previous use.
So the only refusal we have is for the use of the property.
We're looking to put three units in here.
We are looking to put an addition on the third story, but there are no dimensional variances.
Just a little background.
Mr. Hawkins, when he was much younger and his aunt owned the property, he actually lived on the third unit on the third floor.
so he's well versed in the fact of how small that third unit was and that's why he's looking to
expand it out. You'll see the proof that this has been a multi-family structure since 1951.
It was four units in 1951 and then when Mr. Hawkins' aunt took ownership of the property
she downgraded it to three units. So basically we're just trying to restore the use. We're not
TRYING TO CREATE A NEW USE, WE'RE TRYING TO RESTORE THE USE FROM THE TIME THAT HIS ANT OWNED THE
PROPERTY IN 1980. IN ADDITION TO THAT, I AM PROVIDING YOU WITH DIFFERENT ZONING PERMITS
SHOWING THAT THERE IS MULTIFAMILY USE ON THIS PROPERTY, 2216 NORTH 15 STREET, 2243, LET ME JUST
Street, which is right next door to us. And then also 2247 North 15th Street, which is
Oto Lamonte family. Okay. And you've met with the RCO? We did. And the reason why I'm just giving
a little bit longer presentation is that we did, it wasn't well attended. How about this? I'm going
to save time because I know everyone's tired. So this is what the RCO said, right? I'm going to
Look, we're going to read it verbatim.
So there were five people that attended, which I don't know if there were because I was at the meeting, but they said four were in opposition and one were in non-opposition, right?
Okay, and that's the Uptown Entertainment and Development Corporation.
That's right.
And they stated that the reason why they said the RCO and the developers met for an hour or so, and then the RCO committee deliberated for a bit over an hour, voting against this project in favor of the decision of the ZBA, which the ZBA hasn't decided, citing parking and trash concerns.
So just to address those, and you'll see this from the drawings.
there is no basement use in this property other than for trash storage
and for tenant storage and we would agree to a proviso in that respect we're not changing the
physical structure of this building there's a unit there's a two bedroom one bath on the first
floor two bedroom one bath on the second floor and then we're expanding out on the third floor
two-bedge and one-bath. But it's an unfinished basement. It's not connected to the first-floor
unit. All units would have access to that. And as we indicated during our presentation to the
community, that would be where the garbage would be stored. Also, there would be tenant storage.
But again, just to reiterate, we would agree to provide no living in the basement,
just so you understand that. So again, and just a little more matter of background,
the first floor unit it's like this is a family owned property this family has lived in this part
of north philly since 1950s his mom is actually moving into this unit the first floor unit so
this she's a 76 year old woman she's look she's retired he's he's putting her in the first floor
unit and then he has to rent out to the next you know the second and third units in order to like
you know make make make this sense have this make sense in the sense of how much money they're
putting into the property uh the continuing the letter from uptown they stated that there were
issues about parking again we're a block and a half away from north broad street where the
susquehanna dolphin street uh station is okay that's where people you know usually go in and
out from the city and there's a bus line as well so again this family is very well versed with what
This family is very well versed with what the situation is with regards to this property and the neighborhood in general.
this situation is with regards to this property and the neighborhood in general.
And we indicated that that's where people would take the bus or the train.
Now, they said this as the last sentence.
The greatest concern the RCO members had was establishing another precedent-setting shift that has the potential to displace local Philadelphia residents.
We're not doing precedent-setting.
This was a four-unit from 1951 to 1980.
After that, when my client's aunt purchased the property, it was converted into a three unit. All we're trying to do is restore the property to what it was ultimately prior to her death and ownership.
Now, so you understand, we did reach out to the community because, again, many members, this is an older section of the community.
Many members are not technologically savvy.
This was during a Zoom.
The community meeting was during a Zoom meeting.
So my client actually walked the neighborhood, and he got 44 signatures in support of this project, all with all either on the block that is, you know,
you know the 2200 block of north 15th street where he got 17 signatures or he got it on
sitaham which is the next block over but he got and he wants to put an additional floor on this
no there it's already a three-story what he's doing three-story yeah he's just expanding out
the third floor but there's no dimensional variances so there's there's no issues in
light and air that that's not even discussed in that and i think that's part of what the
community didn't understand. They're like, well, you're adding a third story. We're like, no,
there's already a third story there. And we're not creating any dimensional variances. So again,
we have 44 signatures in support within a one block radius. And I can read like it's in your,
you know, on the screen in your packet of materials. But 17 of those signatures
are of resonance on our block. So we really kept it tight. I told my client to keep it tight. We're
not randomly giving addresses out there i can read all the addresses they're all next you don't
have to we got it yeah yeah and then so does the board i have to interrupt you does the board have
any questions no is there a board where's where's my board no that was you tom right
did confess to say anything okay jim i said no earlier okay no carol yeah so this is very
impactful um for my client because again his mother this is a place for her to stay you know
and again it'd be devastating if they didn't get this variance i would just have mr hawkins you
know virtually raise his hand adopt my testimony okay have him do that now please yes
Mr. Ali please unmute yourself and wait for the chair
I'm sorry we were supposed to be getting Mr. Hawkins right Mr. Hawkins oh I'm sorry I
misheard I'm so sorry Mr. Hawkins you've been unmuted please uh wait for the chair
Mr. Hawkins can you state your name and address for the record
harry hawkins hi and do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do okay you may proceed mr hawkins you heard everything i stated today
is it true and correct it was true and correct and do you adopt this in your own testimony
yes i do now just again as an officer of the corps i'm going to keep this really
quick he does have his mom on the phone i think she's not technologically savvy but she's on the
phone and I would give a proffer that she would testify that she is going to be living in the
first floor unit and that her family has like lived in this neighborhood for almost 70 years.
Okay I'd like to hear from the Planning Commission.
Good evening Madam Chairperson and the Board. This is Mason Austin representing
Hi, Mason. Do you swear or affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do. Thank you. Hold on a moment, I apologize. So the property is indicated for residential
multi-family in the city's comprehensive plan, but was remapped to single-family zoning in 2014.
Given the history of the property and the recommendation of the comprehensive plan,
the Planning Commission has no opposition to the granting of the variance.
Okay, calendar number 3225.
I'm sorry, Madam Chair.
Please, I'm so sorry for the interruption,
Please. I'm so sorry for the interruption, but we didn't get the community input. Would you like to?
but we didn't get the community input,
which you need.
I would love to. I always would love to.
Thank you kindly.
Is there anyone here who would like to speak about this property?
Please raise your virtual hand.
If we can get Tina Marie Russell on the record.
Oh, great.
Ms. Russell, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
we got one time Tanya
good evening hi how are you oh I've been on here like everyone else since this morning right
I know I know name and address and then I'll swear you in Tina Marie Russell 35 excuse me 13
16, I forgot my ass been lost. I forgot where I'm at. We are at RCO at 1631 West Susquehanna Avenue.
Okay, do you swear in front of me to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Okay, you may proceed.
Okay, so this is a historically, I mean, if you look up and down this block, you'll see nothing but
mostly single-family houses. There is the one at the 2216, which has four different units in it.
I haven't validated whether or not it's legal or not legal, since it has four units. But basically,
what you're seeing on this block is single-family homes. This is one of our last Mohicans, so to
say of a traditional what Philadelphia used to be with single family houses. Our RCO is also a CDC
and it's our focus and our motivation and our mission as well as Uptown Theater which is the
coordinating RCO to keep this neighborhood as single family as possible because it fits in with
our 25-30 year plan and it also fits in with our mission statement as a CDC. I really don't see a
hardship to have so many units here for your mom to stay. I appreciate the fact that she wants to
move in. Her neighbor would be also not too far down. She's one of our older residents in a single
family block. She's 103 years old. And we appreciate that most of the people here are in
there in that age range. And we want to keep them in a place where they are comfortable. So I
understand that she wants to move back. But my concern is that if you look at the condition of
the house, it's one of the only houses on the block that has been left with no attention to
it over the years. And it's been a source of blight within the community. So our question has
always been, where have you been all these years? And with that being said, we wondered then whether
or not your the tent might not be what it is but we do want to support our neighbors coming back to
the community so you know we don't want to be in agreement with this project but we would like to
put some provisals in um just you know because i don't want to have a senior not come back to their
home but that wouldn't be nice and the fact that her son wants to um actually make a space and that
he wants to live in a space with us in that so you know I can understand that. I would like to
try to put less density to it because once the properties change to apartments it's stuck that
way and the next thing you know we have students and not and it's going to be more traumatic for
people within who's been living there of age. Great what are your proviso what are the provisos
you're looking for and actually i was actually coming on this call just to say no
so um we want i don't know uh and i don't know well now so so back to you and bring that back
to you alan well so tina murray like so we've we've had to delay this multiple occasions so i
would like i stated at the beginning you know we will agree to no living in the basement so that's