I have the owner's representative, James Wade,
and the owner is 222 Hermitage ST LLC.
Thank you.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Nockmson.
Do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy?
Do you? I assume you've submitted the required documents. I have that indicated in my notes that you have.
I have. Thank you. You may proceed. And yes, you may share your screen. Thank you. Sure.
All right. So I'm here to present 222 Hermitage Street.
oh there we go sorry about that 222 harmonized screen let me just do this full screen mode
all right so this is in the manion section of philadelphia as indicated previously we have a
letter of support from the coordinating rco during our presentation materials we'll be presenting the
notice of repeasal, as well as the revised proviso form, which we previously gave to
the ZVA Council, a letter of support from Manion neighborhood council, a map of the
area, photographs of the property that surround the area, our plans and drawings, the RCO
notice that we mailed along with the corresponding proof of mailing, our deed to the property,
our application for appeal, and our certificate of tax clearance. With me is James Wade, the
With me is James Wade, the owner's representative from the Corporate Limited Liability Company that owns the property, which was previously referenced, as well as Matthew Master Pasqua, who's the architect to this property with regards to this project.
the ownership representative from the corporate community life.
This is an RSA by property.
All we're looking to do is to put a single-family home.
So fortunately, we're in Maniang, where there's an issue with steep slopes, and we run about to that requirement under the code, whereas a portion a lot, the steep slope is more than 25%, and only a portion a lot, and Mr. Master Passport could speak to that if the board is so inclined.
uh here's our revised proviso plan form along with the revised plans again the only thing we
changed about the site plan we put the correct alley dimension at 222 224 hermitage street
and this board is so inclined to grant the variance we ask that the board granted with the proviso
with the revised plans. Here's our letter of support from the Manionk Neighborhood Council.
As you can see, there was overwhelming support. The only discussion point was about aesthetics,
which is a non-zonly related issue, but we did agree to certain colors for our facades,
which is reflected in our rendering. Maps of the area, again, we're on Hermitage Street.
is currently a vacant lot, as you'll see. From here, we're between two single-family structures.
Here's Hermitage to the right of the property, Hermitage to the left of the property,
proof of appearing of our notice poster plans. Again, all we're trying to do is a three-story
structure. There are no dimensional variances. We actually have a side yard with regards to
June 2, or Hermitage Street.
And here's our plans and drawings.
Here's our site plan, elevations, another set of elevations.
And again, just single-family use.
You walk in, open floor plan, living room, dining room, kitchen.
Lower level is an open space that can be for any purposes, whether it's an office or just living, like a living room.
You go up a flight of steps, there's bedrooms, two bedrooms, and a den, and then you go up another flight of steps to the third floor, and there's a master suite.
The survey, which also includes information about this deep slope, and then our proof of mailing.
We met with the community on October 6th of 2021 at 7 p.m.
There are 158 addresses that were notified about this community meeting.
Here are the addresses.
Here's proof of mailing for that notice.
Here's our deed to the property, showing that the Hermitage corporate entity owns it.
Here's our application for appeal that we filed for 222 Hermitage Street, STLLC,
along with the notice of refusal as well as project information form and here's our certificate
of tax plan showing that we're in good standing with the city with that being said i'm going to
share my screen i'm going to ask mr wade virtually raise his hand so he can adopt my testimony and
then we can take any questions from the board
so wait if you're in the audience please raise your virtual hand
the way that's been allowed to speak hi mr wade state your name is spelled for the court reporter
please? Mr. Wade? Mr. Wade, state your name and spell for the court reporter.
Mr. Chair, I would ask that, given that he's having some difficulties as an officer of the
court. Absolutely. Yes. Questions from the board? No, Mr. Chairman. No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Mr. Chair? Okay, yes, Mr. Chair, I have a Mr. Jeremy Inman with his hand raised. I will
speak at the top. Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
yes sir it's jeremy inman j-e-r-e-m-y last name i-n-m-a-n you swear or affirm to tell the
last name i n m a n you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the
truth yes proceed yes the only thing i just wanted to mention was um uh that i first originally had
a concern with the with the border the the property border but it appears that that has been corrected
so i just wanted to go on record for that because i did send a letter i'm not sure if that had been
received or not i never got a notice back so i just wanted that to be clarified thank you
very much sir thanks for calling in anyone else i see no hands mr chair planning commission
unmute please unmute sorry good afternoon good afternoon chairman members of the board
i need to be sworn in you state your name and spell it please uh my name is ian i-a-n litwin
L-I-T-W-I-N
Planning Commission staff
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
So the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the existing RSA 5
single family zoning at this location.
There is evidence that this site was developed
previously from historic maps
and there is no way to develop the site without
encroaching on the greater than 25%
steep slope area. Therefore, the
planning commission recommends the board approve the variance for sleep steep slope disturbance
thank you very much mi 2021-00-3594-222 hermitage i vote yes with revised plans one page
carl tenary my vote is yes with proviso thomas halliman my vote is yes with proviso
So, James Snell, yes, we'll provide those.
Ishmael Shahi, yes, we'll provide those.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
MI 2021-005240-1302-12 West Cumberland Street.
RCO, letter of support, 37th Ward.
Daniel Roisman is the attorney.
Mr. Reisman has been promoted to panelist.
Mr. Reisman, state your name and spell for the court reporter, please.
You need to unmute, sir.
hi could you state your name and spell for the court reporter yes good afternoon mr chairman
and members of the board daniel n reisman r-e-i-s-m-a-n from edgert siemens my address
is to liberty place philadelphia pa 22nd floor you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole
truth is nothing but the truth i do could you state who your client is and their relationship
it to the property yes my client is cumberland equities holding llc it's the owner for the
property uh here with me today is uh brian lubliner who is a principal of the owner
along with uh jackson duncan who is the project manager thank you our vice chair has a few
questions okay hi mr reissman do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy? Yes, I do. Based on my notes, you have submitted all of the required documents.
Is that correct? That's correct. You may proceed and please share your screen.
can you see my screen
oh we see your screen that you don't have to it's up now
could you make it a little bit bigger
yes can you see the exhibits with the um on the face of the screen yeah we're seeing it now okay
but the chair would like it a little bit larger
so again i want to make sure you can see the exhibits because i have it as large as i can
okay can you see my cursor right now we can we're fine go ahead okay so um thank you mr chairman
of members. As you mentioned, as I mentioned, I represent the applicant. I've submitted
exhibits A1 through A10, and I'm not going to walk through each one, but as Ms. Tenere
mentioned, it has all required exhibits. Those include the application. It includes an exhibit
Those include the application. It includes an Exhibit 2, a letter of support from the RCO,
and the vote for that was 14 in favor and 0 opposed for the application.
I have photos and zoning maps and zoning plans as well.
I'm going to go to the maps first so that you can see the project.
okay and can you see this photo yes okay so the project is right here the property 1302
west cumberland it's at the corner of west cumberland street and 13th street
and here's another map showing the property again
and i'm now showing you a zoning map and again here is the property
corner of West Cumberland and North 13th Street, and it shows that the property is located in CMX
2. The history of the property is that in 2010, a prior owner of the property
obtained a ZBA approval for the use as 17 units. I'm going to show you some photos of the property
right now. This is the building. These are the 17 units. Here's another photo showing
from this. There are the units on this side of the street. The application solely relates
to adding an 18th unit at the corner, which is an existing structure. Right now, it's
vacant and it was not approved it wasn't as from what i can see it just was not submitted
in 2010 it was a prior owner i'm assuming they only submitted for the 17 units because that's
what they wanted to uh rehab at the time and renovate um the 18th unit is unused and that's
all we're talking about here today so here is the 18th unit i'll show you a few more photos
This is a good view. 18th unit, there are the 17 that have been already approved.
When we met with the community, they were very happy about this because, you know, right now this unit is, it's important, this 18th unit, because it's a corner property.
So, what you have right now is something of a dead zone at this corner, and we think this is very important because it will fill this vacant structure with occupants, and it will activate that street corner with eyes on the street.
The unit itself is actually will be the largest in the building. The unit will be 2,200 square feet, so it'll be the second and the third floors.
The other units in the building are one bedroom units, so this will actually be the largest unit in the building.
now i we have some photos of the interior so here are the finished units for the 17 you'll
see they're very nice they have loft space which adds square footage to each unit
here's a view of the hallway and my clients expended a substantial amount of money
on the existing building to renovate them and here is the 18th unit this is the door that
connects it from the hallway of the 17 and you'll see from these photos right now that it's unfinished
And my client would like to finish this unit to renovate it. And as I said, activate this part of the building, both in terms of externally for the street corner, as well as internally. So there's not effectively this large vacant unit that's attached to what is almost a fully occupied building. I believe 16 of the 17 units are occupied right now.
Lastly, you can see that historically, this property clearly had some use for residential.
So it's really, to me, a classic hardship.
There's no other feasible use for this 18th unit.
It has a historical use for residential, and that's what it would be used for here.
And that's it.
really, you know, we think it's a good, in terms of the test under the zoning code, we think it
We think it has positive impacts on the public welfare for the reasons I mentioned and that the community mentioned at the meeting.
has positive impacts on the public welfare for the reasons I'm
And we also think it satisfies the legal hardship standards.
Would you want to have your client adopt your testimony for us?
Yes, I would. Thank you.
Mr. Lubliner?
Raise your hand, please.
I'm about to speak, sir.
Can you hear me?
Yes. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes. My name is Brian, B-R-I-A-N, Lubliner, L-U-B-L-I-N-E-R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
Mr. Lubliner, good afternoon. You are a principal of the owner, is that correct?
Yes, I am.
And did you hear my statements today?
Yes, I did.
and were they true and accurate to the best of your knowledge information and belief
yes they are and do you adopt them as you're on yes i do thank you questions from the board
no mr chairman no no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
do you know all that has mr chair planning commission
good afternoon chairman members of the board ian litwin planning commission staff
this is an existing apartment building with 17 units the proposed 18th unit exists and is in
disrepair there is no other viable use for this building therefore the city planning commission
recommends that the board grant the use variance thank you mi 2021-005-240-1302-12
12 west cumberland street i vote yes carol tenary my vote is yes thomas halliman my vote is yes
james snell my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you counselor thank you very
Thank you very much, Board Members.
good afternoon good afternoon could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
stephanie magagna m-a-g-a-g-n-a do you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth i do could you tell us who your client is and what the relationship
is to the property sure so my client is compass real estate um legal entity in pennsylvania is
Compass, Pennsylvania, LLC, and they are the tenant of the building, specifically the third
floor and a portion of the second floor at 1431 on Street. Thank you. Our vice chair has a few
questions. Hi, do you agree to leave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do. It appears that you've submitted all of the required documents. Is that correct?
Correct. You may proceed and please share your screen. Thank you. Thank you. As mentioned,
This application is about 1430 Walnut Street. It's an existing building located at the corner of Walnut Street and 15th Street.
The existing building is a multi-tenant building with multiple entrances on the different street frontages that are there.
We have Verizon on the ground floor, Cheesecake Factory on the second floor with its main entrance on the first floor along Walnut Street,
and a multi-tenant entrance along the 15th Street frontage that's shared by multiple
tenants in the building. Compass Real Estate is looking to relocate their Philadelphia regional
office to this building. They are taking over what was formerly the WeWork space at the building
and are looking to erect a one-wall sign at the third floor of the building to replace the
previously approved WeWork sign that's there. The unique layout and physical conditions of this
building have required that tenants deviate from the strict compliance with the zoning code