and it is in conformance with the supreme court and and related case law in the lower courts
now with respect to commercial space you please note and and it's being made to seem uh i believe
in uh mr master's uh opening statement that we had commercial we didn't have commercial
that this was done on a whim.
The board has to note that our lack of commercial space
is in direct response to the desires of the community.
Although there are commercial uses along Belmont Avenue,
this corner of Belmont and Parkside is solely residential.
When we started this process,
we offered to move the mural
from its location. And because that location did host the mural, we were going to put a Philadelphia Star, a Negro League baseball themed coffee shop as part of our commercial as to give back.
We were told that that they didn't want that. So we took the commercial out. And that's why we have a new scheme and a new application for
for this project. I'm just going to object that Mr. Beauvais is now alluding to hearsay. We don't
have any identity of who the mysterious people are who have been directing his client to put
or to remove commercial uses that are required by the zoning code. But we do know that the zoning
code says that he must have a commercial space on the first floor and he has a refusal for it.
So I'm asking the board to just strike the comments from Mr. Bovee that don't identify who these mysterious forces are in the universe that are conspiring on commercial spaces.
So, Mr. Masters, we take note of exactly everything you said.
Mr. Bovee, continue.
just just let just just so you know we we have this schedule for an hour i'm getting up to about
you know 55 50 55 minutes right now so what i think i would want you to do mr beauvais is to
start to finish up and then we're going to have to have a resumptive hearing understood understood
but just mr masters you understand that too is that okay i do well that's your call mr chair i'm
i'm good with what your call is so let's let's let's mr beauvais start to get to the point
where you're finishing up where you are and then we'll plan where we're going to be the next time
where you know where we left off understood mr chairman so but but just on a side note and quick
response right you know the testimony the notes of testimony for the last two hearings where it does
discuss uh the that commercial shouldn't be uh is not desired is there in a packet and
and mr masters could could look for himself who in his clients organization
mr masters could could look for himself who in his clients organization has uh uh suggested this so
um let me just see where i am uh so given given the the
lack of commercial space
we actually decided to follow the community because we actually
agreed with them. Commercial space will most likely be a struggle because of the lack of
pedestrian traffic and because the community did say to us in more than one occasion that they
believe commercial use on the ground floor will create vehicle pedestrian conflicts and it will
probably create more congestion in that area so we agreed and we believe that that with that
it makes sense because we're in a residential area and this will make it solely residential
now i'm just going to call my witness if the board doesn't mind and then i i i think if you
If you call your witness, your witness will be on a little bit and they'll be crossed.
So I think we should start to end this now.
Now, I would say they tell me that the council person may be in the audience.
I would like, if I could, to get her on record before we have a resumptive hearing.
You're both okay with that?
Yes, definitely.
Is the council person in the virtual audience?
Do we see her in the virtual audience?
Yeah, Ms. Gaudier is in the audience with her hand raised.
Okay, thank you.
May I allow her to speak?
Yeah, please.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Can you hear me?
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter, please?
Jamie Gaudier, J-A-M-I-E-P-A-U-T-H-I-E-R.
Thank you.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Mr. Chair, members of the board, I'm here today to oppose the proposed variances at 4306 to 08 Parkside Avenue.
I testified in opposition last year as well and I'm back again for similar reasons.
This new proposal is less of an overbuild but it's still an overbuild. Though the plot is uniquely
shaped it is comparably sized as many of the other two or three unit multi-family parcels along
Clarkside Avenue. We know the community would welcome a by right proposal with ground floor
commercial for housing units and 38 feet inches of building height this was made very clear during
the series of community meetings about the original proposal last year and it was reiterated
yet again this year but it still falls on deaf ears adding insult to injury this year's proposal
removes the only component of the project that could have been considered to be community serving
which was the ground floor commercial space. The applicant has stated that this was in response to
community feedback but really this just figures to better serve their own interest because they
replaced the commercial space with more housing units bringing the total number to 12 units which
is still a significant overbuild. The community of East Parkside has spoken very clearly and
unequivocally, and I ask that you hear them today. Between both these proposals and a half dozen
community meetings over a two-year period, each vote taken results in overwhelming opposition.
In fact, some of the strongest opposition I've seen since assuming this role. So I ask you today
to deny this variance, and I thank you for your time. Thank you. Mr. Beauvoir, Mr. Masters, any
questions i just have an acknowledgement uh councilwoman i appreciate your passion
thank you mr masters um i uh the council member is is a witness on the on our client side so we
um we wholeheartedly endorse her comments thank you council thank you very much um so we're going
to end this down we're going to schedule a resumptive hearing um tanya you'll be in touch
with them when the next hearing will be on no chair i have the date um typically resumptive
No, Chair. I have the date. Typically, resumptive hearings have to be announced for the record.
hearings have to be announced okay
So December 20th at 930 a.m. is the date that I have.
And we will allow enough time for them to complete their presentations.
Mr. Chair, this is Hillary. Can I just ask each of the parties to advise how much of a presentation they have left,
number of witnesses that sort of thing so we can plan accordingly why don't we do that darwin you
go first what do you have left yeah i i know i have the applicant um jermaine yakubov and um um
i may have one other so let's just say a total of two okay and how long do you think that'll take
you um to to for both of them to testify uh maybe about 20 minutes each 40 minutes okay
mr masters um we have four witnesses um members of the board we have the two leaders of the rcos
we have um two near neighbors one uh it's going to testify concerning um the the safety um and the
the fear that they have with this alley that's being uh proposed in the design and the other
one is going to um testify to um the the irresponsibility of of the of the applicant
and the public the public harm that's going to call that would come from putting um a property
that he would control in that location i i know you object to that but mr masters well everyone
objects to his conduct that's good that mr bovay joins me on that let's go back mr masters how
much time do you think you need um i think we're going to need an hour for your presentation well
yes because i imagine that mr bouvet will be um cross-examining our witnesses so we're talking an
hour and 15 20 minutes for both is that possible hour and a half i think an hour and a half would
be a good a good allocation darwin um yeah how much what let me ask you tanya what do you have
to give um so if we have to do more time than the typical hour we would have to push it into january
can we do it in an hour um mr chairman it sounds like january well my my concern
my concern mr chair is that um um since mr bouvet hasn't concluded his um his presentation
he may, as has happened, and not that he's done this before, but other applicants' attorneys have
run out the clock on some of the cases that I've been involved with. So if there were strict time
limits put on Mr. Bovee's witnesses, then we would understand if there were also time limits put on
ours but um up till now um this has been mr bouvet's um you know sole presentation and it's
taken quite a long time so let's let's let's say a half hour for each one hour we're going to finish
this in an hour i'm sorry this is tanya in order to keep it clean how about we do january the 18th
at 9 30 in which they will have enough time to give their full presentation and i will limit that
schedule well okay we'll we'll do that i i appreciate that okay all right thank you
thank you both by the way frustrated but i love you tanya thank you both we love you too all
all right mr chairman this is definitely the city brotherly love today thank you
thank you for um the accommodation okay thank you
Case number three, MI 2021-004362-105 Bethlehem, Ike, Henry Clinton.
I'm going to bring Henry on and then I'll do all the, I'll list the rest of the cases.
Mr. Clinton?
Chair, Mr. Clinton is coming in now as a panelist.
Morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Morning, Mr. Clinton.
State your name and spell for the court reporter.
You're Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N, 1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA.
You are Henry Clinton, C-L-I-N-T-O-N, 1313 South 33rd Street.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. Clinton, we're going to list all your cases at once, and my understanding is you'll then do an opening for all of them, and then we'll go each case. Is that okay?
That sounds good, Mr. Chairman.
So I already called your first case.
The next case, MI 2021-004-356-18 Hilltop Road.
Next case, MI 2021-004-359-8532 Germantown Avenue.
Next case, MI 2021-004-361-101 Bethlehem Pike.
I'll be right with you.
Next case, MI 2021-003-132-8622 Germantown Avenue.
MI 2021-003-131-8624-26 Germantown Avenue, MI 2021-004-363-7928 Germantown Avenue,
MI 2021-004-360-8137 Germantown Avenue, and MI 2022-000-448-8042-44 Germantown Avenue.
Mr. Clinton, could you identify your client and their relationship to all those properties?
Sure. My client is Bowman, B-O-W-M-A-N, Properties Limited.
And the principal is here on the call, Richard Snowden.
And I will have another witness who is an employee and a director of leasing for Bowman Properties, David Hoylman, H-O-Y-L-M-A-N.
Right. And our vice chair, Carl Tenere, has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Clinton. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do with regard to all the cases, Ms. Tenneri.
Okay. Have you emailed the exhibit packet with proof of ownership, tax compliance,
a copy of the refusal or referral, photos under plans of the properties,
five days in advance of this hearing, and have you met with the RCO, and do you have a letter?
Yes to all nine projects.
Okay, you may proceed and please begin to share the voluminous screens that we're about to see.
All right, well, first I want to do your opening statement and then tell us how you're going to list the properties.
Okay, so I appreciate, first of all, Ms. Sunkett, she's getting a lot of shout outs today, but I'd like to join in that chorus because this was a yeoman's effort to get nine cases scheduled at the one time.
So our sincere thanks, both my client and me, to Ms. Sumkin.
So I basically have an opening statement.
I'm going to try to do this in an hour.
Not that I'm going to go fast, but I'm going to try to be as thorough as possible and stick to the facts.
So first, I want to talk about Bowman Properties.
I want to talk about Mr. Snowden, the project, the legal end of this, preparation for it, and community organization.
So first, Bowman Properties.
Bowman Properties is a long-term holder of numerous commercial properties as well as
residential properties in Chestnut Hill. Mr. Snowden and his grandfather started this company
in 1981 and been in continuous business for 41 years since that time. They have a sensibility
and an historic feeling for Chestnut Hill. Mr. Snowden has about eight employees and he also
has about 15 field employees who are doing renovations and work on his properties. And he
has in excess of 62 commercial tenants in the Chestnut Hill area. But most of them, 47 of them
or so, are mom and pops, small stores, galleries, you know, gathering places for people in Chestnut
Hill. And over the course of his 41 years, he has restored about 75 historic buildings in
Chestnut Hill. That would be part A of my opening. Part B is Mr. Snowden himself. He is the principal
of Bowman Properties Limited. He'll be a witness today. He lives in Chestnut Hill.
He lives in Chestnut Hill. His office in Chestnut Hill. He breathes Chestnut Hill. He loves Chestnut Hill.
His office in Chestnut Hill. He breathes Chestnut Hill.
He has made at least 18 contributions to the conservancy at Chestnut Hill of conservation easements.
And he shops at the stores that are his tenants and he eats at the restaurants that are his tenants.
the project the purpose of today is projects and requests to the board are in in seven of the nine
cases is to basically change the commercial makeup of some of the storefronts on germantown avenue
and off germantown avenue and lessen the square feet of the commercial spaces without changing
the front, you still have a storefront, but in the rear, making those rear areas into residential
spaces. Now, there's a couple where we're actually converting the commercial fully to residential,
and there's a couple that we're legalizing former uses, but I'll get through the detail of that as
we work through. One thing, it's really important, every residential unit or one bedroom apartment
that we're suggesting will have parking. The other thing that's really, really unique, and I think
the board will like this. Bowman Properties takes out the trash for every commercial tenant,
takes the trash cans out literally when necessary, where they have commercial pickup, and then make
sure the trash cans go back from whence they came. Again, Mr. Snowden walks these streets. He wants
to make sure everything is looking tidy and neat. And that's one of the things that his company
engages in, which I find unique to many people that we see present before the board.
So we're basically decreasing the size of the commercial storefronts and in the rear of those properties, putting in one bedroom residential units.
And there's a need for that, not only because these commercial spaces have sat vacant for a number of years, but also there's a lot of calls for some of the individuals in Chestnut Hill who are retiring and they want to stay in Chestnut Hill because it's a vibrant community and they want walk up living.
They want to be able to walk into their apartment and then walk to the avenue and enjoy the amenities that Chestnut Hill offers.
Next is an overview.
Why are we doing this?
Well, because the retail spaces, not only at Chestnut Hill, but throughout the country are struggling.
I think they're realizing that they don't need as many square feet as they thought they did.
They don't have the back office and they're not using the back office for storage.
so they're looking for a smaller footprint. Smaller footprint translates into less dollars
devoted to rent and more dollars devoted to marketing. So we have calls and Mr. Stoding
can address it. We've gotten calls from entrepreneurs, startups who don't want the
square footage that a lot of these spaces have. The beauty of this proposal is you're still going