but then it was appealed and then it would sound like it was affirmed and in any
time it would be running well it would extend any time for them to actually go and get the
but if you don't know how long if you don't get your uh rental license uh within well i know if
you have an inactive rental license for more than three years the the property reverts how
the lni views it reverts back to whoever zoning it is i also know yeah so that's what happened
and we're well beyond the three years okay even if it was 2021 we're beyond the three years like
i'm just assuming worst case scenario yeah yeah okay yeah but that's a little strange and we
don't usually see that as part of the provisos yeah okay questions from our attorney thank you
not at this time mr chairman from the audience to the virtual audience
planning commission good afternoon liz fuselay for the philadelphia planning commission
The comprehensive plan recommends no change to the RSA 3 residential single-family zoning at this location.
The city rezoned this neighborhood in 2006 in a council-requested map change.
The property appears to have a history of multifamily use.
The majority of homes on this block face range from two dwelling units to five dwelling units,
so four matches the character of the other homes.
The City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the proposed use variance for four dwelling units.
MI 2025-002-409-3552 North 18th Street, I vote yes.
Michael Johns, my vote is yes.
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes.
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes.
Iowyn, my vote is yes.
Alan, one more.
Yes, one more.
MI 2025-002-913-3104 Euclid Street.
Alan Nockmson.
Just state your name for the record.
Alan Nockmson.
Could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Yes, my client's SLC, real estate LLC,
and in the virtual audience is one of its members, Shati Cooks.
um also um tenetta graham our vice chair has recused herself from this um do you agree with
the refusal and to stipulate to its accuracy i do and all of your um paperwork has been in the list
within five days that's right mr chair why don't we proceed all right thank you
all right so first of all thank you for accommodating i do have a community meeting
tonight so i want to run over there um so people in the back don't look i know that's i i could
feel that i can feel the burn a little bit back here uh 3104 i try to be fast 3104 euclid street
uh, 3104, I try to be fast, 3104 Euclid Street. It's in a strawberry mansion, uh, section of
Philadelphia and, um, pretty straightforward in the sense of this. Um, one of, one of the refusals
has to do with the density. We're asking for a two family dwelling for RSA five,
you know, straightforward. We'll look at it. It's not out of character. The second one
has to do with more so like, uh, of the overlay in this section where, because the width of the
street is a certain size or lack thereof we have our building structure can only be 25 feet high
which also would be out of character to the building to the left and right we're mimicking
the height of the building at 35 feet 10 inches at the roof line and you'll see that
so we received i don't know if they have a vote here but we received unanimous support my
understanding from the community a couple things that we did agree to which are
enforceable we agreed to no basement living as a proviso and the trash will be stored outside
for unit number one on the first floor on the upper floor there'll be a trash closet
um i think that's basically it and then we also have a proviso for revised plans because at the
request of the community we increase the size of the front porch covering and we also remove the
bay window so if the board feels so inclined to grant this variance or these variance requests
Plus, we would ask for revised plans, plus no living in the basement.
And then not out of character to have multifamily on this block, 3114 Euclid, 3131 Euclid, 3138 Euclid.
Again, we're a vacant lot between two existing structures, and you'll see what I mean about the height.
We're RSA 5 property. We go street to street from Euclid to Wilt.
but you can see these are two large three-story structures we're mimicking the height to be
to be requesting of us to be 25 feet high within these three-story structures would be out of
character again this is a recent phenomenon this this regulation and in blocks where there are
two-story structures that would make more sense but we're in between three uh two three-story
structures. This is the front of the property. It's been a vacant lot, at least as far back as
2009. This is 3104 from the rear of the property on West Wilt. Hearing notice posters as well from
each side. Euclid Street to the right of the property, Euclid Street to the left of the
property, West Wilt Street to the right of the property, and then to the left of the property.
our plans and drawings um this is with bruce cheatham of cheatham drafting and design but
you can see we have a porch here which will mimic the architecture of the properties on our block
pretty straightforward plans here you have a shared vestibule area you make a left there's
a living room there's a kitchen there's a bathroom there's a bedroom there's an open floor area
where there's no um we're agreeing to no basement livings just basically for storage
You go up a flight of steps.
Instead, you have a three-bedroom, three-bath
where you would have a living room, a kitchen,
bathroom, bedroom.
Go up another flight of steps, two bedrooms on both sides.
And then you have a bathroom as well.
We met with the community multiple times.
I think three times until we got it right.
Last one was September 25th at 6 p.m.
Addresses we mailed it to for that last meeting.
proof of mailing in those addresses, or application for appeal on behalf of SLC Real
Estate, along with the notice of refusal in the project information form, the deed showing
that SLC Real Estate LLC is the owner of the property, and then finally, the Certificate
of Tax Clearance.
I would ask that Shati virtually raise his hand.
Oh, looks like he's up there already.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
My name is Shati Cooks, S-H-A-T-E-E, last name Cooks, C-O-O-K-S.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Please proceed, counsel.
Mr. Cooks, you heard everything I had to state today about your zoning matter.
That is correct, Alan.
And is it true and correct?
And do you adopt this as your own testimony?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Questions from the board.
What's the plan for the basement?
It's just storage.
Let me keep it open for storage.
No basement living at all.
Other questions?
Questions from our attorney, Hillary Emerson.
Not at this time, Mr. Chair.
Questions from the audience or the virtual audience?
no hands raised at this time chair planning commission
No hands raised at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
good afternoon liz fuselay for the planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the rsa 5 residential single-family zoning at this location
the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2014 sorry
in accord with recommendations in the comprehensive plan the proposed height
variance matches I'm sorry my computer is acting very strangely okay read it
this way the city rezoned this neighborhood in 2014 in accord with the
recommendations in the comprehensive plan the proposed height variance
matches the character of the other homes on this block face however despite the
presence of approximately five three-family homes this is primarily a
single-family block place block face the city planning commission recommends that the board
grant the proposed dimensional variance for height but deny the proposed use variance for two dwelling
units mr chair is the city planning commission acknowledged on one city block there are five
two-family dwellings not out of character mi 2025 002 913 3104 euclid street i vote yes
proviso revised plans one page stamp by zba october 8 2025 no basement living michael johns
my vote is yes with proviso cheryl gassner my vote is yes with provisos
my vote is yes with provisos and mr chard just wanted to clarify the the one the no basement
living proviso will be no household living in the basement no household living in the basement
Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Number 13, MI 2025, 002-915-1101 Catherine Street. Eric Bodson is the attorney. Letter of support from Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition. Vote was 38. Support 14 in opposition, 4 in non-opposition.
There's also a petition with 31 signatures, a letter of support received from a neighbor, Ann Laskovitz.
Counselor, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yes. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Eric Bodzin, E-R-I-C, B-O-D-Z-I-N of Blank Room.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client, a relationship to the property?
Yes, I can.
my client is uh henry sullivan who is sitting beside me as well as ken penn um who is on our
uh in the virtual audience as he is overseas at this time vice chair tinnett graham has a few
questions good good afternoon um have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance
of this hearing yes i have and do you waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its
accuracy yes i do thank you so much you can proceed with your case by sharing your screen
chair we have a dominic long with their hammers
i believe that's from council council president's office oh sure um
Why don't we bring her on and see what it's about?
Could you please let her come forward, please?
They're being promoted now.
Right.
Hello?
Hi, how are you?
Could you please state your name and spell it for the stenographer?
Yes, my name is Dominic Long.
Could you spell that, please, for the stenographer?
Yes, D-O-M-I-N-I-C-L-O-N-G.
You swear or affirm to tell the truth,
told truth, nothing but the truth?
So, sir, we're on 1101 Catherine Street.
We're just starting the case.
Oh, good.
If you want to make comments now, it's fine.
Yeah, I was going to say that.
We'll take you.
The second district office does support the 1101 Catherine.
Thank you very much for taking the time to call us.
We appreciate it.
um council yes thank you so much mr chair um and thank you uh to uh mr long and the council
president's office for the support of this project um uh mr chair i'm here again on behalf of uh
benchmark real estate partners uh henry sullivan beside me and ken penn in the virtual audience
we also have katie burrell of the design team in the virtual audience
And I understand that Representative Miss Anne of Hawthorne.
And I understand that Representative Ms. Anne of Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition is in the virtual audience as well.
We really want to thank Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition and the Council President's Office for their continued support and engagement throughout this process.
It is certainly a testament in part to the project just a couple blocks down the street on your screen at 13th and Bainbridge.
named the Parker consisting of 47 units of mixed income and affordable housing that was
recently constructed and also a testament to the ownership's continued engagement since that time
with the council office and HEC Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition on this project which is
a couple blocks away at 11th and Catherine. It is the long-standing macaroni building.
It was constructed, it's 38,000 square feet. It was constructed in 1914 and once the historic
centerpiece of the once industrial Hawthorne neighborhood. The building has been owned or was
owned continuously by the macaroni building family, although its headquarters in the
1970s moved further into South Philadelphia. And most recently, the property has been mostly
vacant. This is the existing property, an aerial of the existing property. And here you can see
the ground level view of the property the macaroni building so the macaroni company has maintained
small offices on the ground floor however the property has otherwise been mostly vacant
despite extensive efforts to find a commercial or industrial user of the property by ownership
um uh you know the the main issue being um that this is a pre-war building that fills the entirety
of the 13 000 square foot lot uh without adequate uh parking or loading on site for modern commercial
vehicles and of course it's now surrounded by a residential an overwhelmingly residential not
commercial industrial neighborhood and that is the issue at the heart of refusal here
that the you know residential use is expressly prohibited in the icmx district
and that parking on site is required the owner was able to secure the code amount of parking
required by this legacy icmx zoning uh all on the block same block of catherine street
um and as i mentioned uh the the sole remaining issue and the reason for this variance is that
the permitted uses have become incompatible with the surrounding neighborhood uh the proposal here
However, is for minimum modification of the building and not only in the scope of the plans, which I'll pull up in a moment, but also within the scope of a very detailed community benefits agreement that ownership worked out with Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition, detailing everything from local hiring to tree plannings and their placement to street sweeping for neighbors.
on the block. This is the zoning map. You can see this ICMX designated parcels, one of the last
to remain in this neighborhood. In fact, the ICMX you see pictured on the block to the north is